Collin Hedgehog and the Cursed Vaults: Year 1
by Dawn Totadile
Summary: This is an AU where Snivley, Robotnik's nephew, is good, and your favorite sonic characters are all students at hogwarts. Though, to be fair, this is from before Sonic and his gang are born. Meet Collin Hedgehog, the adopted son of Charles Hedgehog (Uncle Chuck), and follow him as he goes through life at Hogwarts trying to find out what happened to his older sister, Hope.
1. Chapter 1: The World Around Us

**_Warning* This is an alternate universe of both the Hogwarts Mystery Game and Sonic the Hedgehog series. Do not take cannon as god in this because characters will have age changed, families changed, and will be acting differently from the cannon universe. You can blame this on Sonic and his need to go dimension jumping if you want, but every thought is a possible universe, so there. :P_**

In the world of Mobius, two main races lived together, though not always in harmony. One were the humans, once the dominant species back before the days of fire, now spread thin and wide as they work to handle magic being inserted back into their world. The second was a race known as the Mobians. Mobians ranged from all sorts of animals that had gained intelligence, and were often more skilled with their magic.

One day, in the early years, four magic users; two humans and two Mobians, had decided to form a school for magic users so as to teach the youth and keep all safe from the lack of knowledge. There was Godric Gryffindor, a brown Hedgehog Mobian known for his bravery and courage. Then came his best friend; Salazar Slytherin, a fat and tall human who liked ambition and cunning, believed that only those whose families had magic should be able to learn, or pure-bloods as he called them. Rowena Ravenclaw was a Raven that had the wisdom of an owl (on her father's side), and valued intelligence and Wisdom from her students. Finally came Rowena's best friend, Helga Hufflepuff, a kindly plump lady who believed in loyalty, patience, and hardworking students. The four of them created the school known as Hogwarts. Thousands of years after this is where our story begins…


	2. Chapter 2:Unrealistic Origins

A young boy was sitting in a forest as a downpour came upon him. He didn't care. He was about the size of a four year old, and was considered a cripple amongst the humans. He was strange for many reasons. One in particular was that he was only two. His intelligence was quite high for a two year old, as were his abilities. He was a two-year-old who could accidently create a shield over himself when he was threatened and find himself hidden away when his father was abusive, if one could even call the man his father. Collin Snivelous Kintobor Junior, more commonly called Snively, was the pitiful genius son of Senior and his late wife, Merida. While Snively had never known his mother, he did know that his father blamed him for the woman's death, even still two years later. Snively had grown to the age of two with the cunning of a young genius and the beatings of an abused slave. He didn't know what kindness was, but he sorely craved it. In his mind, he supposed that it might have been his fault that his mother was dead, but would that truly solve everything if he were to die as well?

Snively looked up into the rain, hoping for some sort of answer before the plants moved around him to give him shelter. He knew it was probably his magic, but he felt better for it anyway. He felt as though someone cared.

"What are you doing out here, kid?" Snively jolted in shock as he turned to face a dusty blue hedgehog with a brown mustache. "Easy, easy, I won't hurt you. I just want to know what you're doing out here."

Snively had never seen a Mobian before, but he had heard Senior rant about them. Snively never addressed his father as anything but Senior when he talked, as he didn't feel the title father was supposed to go to one who warranted harming others without valid cause, and while he felt guilty of his mother's death, he never truly felt it was his fault. But then again, he was only two. For all he knew, the world could fall around him and somehow he would stay alive and wouldn't know that it was illogical. As far as he had heard, the Mobians were dangerous creatures, some being muggles and some being wizards. Judging by the wand in the hedgehog's hand, he assumed this one was a wizard, like Senior and his uncle. That didn't help him much though as he started to back up into the little shelter.

The Mobian looked at him with a hurt expression, as though he had been disappointed or had been saddened by the boy's action. "Are you okay?" Snively paused. He had never been asked that before. The hedgehog sighed and tried another approach. "My name's Charles, what's your?"

Snively blinked as he tried to think. True, he had heard his real name once or twice before, but only on rare occasions since he knew that his father shared his name, and someone had addressed the man. Snively was rarely addressed at all, save for by Senior and his brother, Julian. Julian had disappeared a while ago though. They had always called him "Snively" though, and it hurt.

Snively looked up at the hedgehog who was standing in the rain under an invisible umbrella held by his wand. "I'm… Collin…" He said in a nervous, slightly high pitched voice that was also nasally. It was the only other name he knew was his.

Charles sighed. It was a start. "What are you doing out here, Collin?"

"Hiding." That took no time to think about. It was the only word he knew that matched what he was doing, though surviving was probably closer to the truth.

"Hiding?" Charles asked as he slowly entered the shelter. "From what?"

"Not what, who…" Collin shivered slightly from the thought of being sent back.

"Alright then, who?"

"Senior…"

"Senior?" Charles quickly put together that he was addressing the junior of the family. "Is he your father?"

The face that Collin made was disgusted as he looked down to the grassy ground. "I'm told he is, but he's not a very good one. That's why my sister disappeared they say… I want to find my sister…" That was Collin's first vocalized opinion. He usually kept to himself, but he felt that it didn't matter anymore, he had been found. "Are you going to send me back?"

Charles took a good look at the boy. He had scrapes all over him, and his clothes were tattered and worn, not to mention the boy must have been closer to death than he was showing. In all honesty, young Collin should have probably died a while ago.

"No…" He couldn't send him back, not like this… he would never forgive himself if he found out later on that the boy had been killed because of it. "I'm not going to send you back, Collin."

"Thank you…" Collin then laid himself down, no longer fearing the hedgehog next to him. He was tired. "The rain won't last long, so you shouldn't have to worry."

Charles raised a brow as the toddler fell asleep on the wet grassy ground, blissfully uncaring about the world around him for once in a great while. 'I can't just leave him here…' Charles sighed as he waited for the rain to stop. Collin still didn't wake up. Charles slowly picked up the little boy in his arms and carried him home, knowing that he couldn't leave the boy alone anymore. He was so light! Besides, this child was something special, even if he didn't know it yet.


	3. Chapter 3: The Letter

**_9 years later…_**

"Collin, time to get up!" came the voice of Dr. Charles Hedgehog, one of the greatest scientists among the wizarding community. He was a kind middle aged hedgehog nearing his greying years, and had been raising his genius adopted son since he had found the boy. It took a while, but Collin eventually grew to be a healthy, bright, and _cheerful_ boy.

"Coming, Father!" The young boy called as he put away his notes on something he remembered his sister talking about before disappearing. In truth, he had gotten up an hour earlier to try and figure out where his older sister had disappeared to again. This was his usual past time when he was alone, if he wasn't working on his schooling. Collin was as short as a Mobian child, had messy brown hair that was spiked at the edges, much like his hedgehog father, and bright sky blue eyes that held wonder and recognition for all that went on. The eleven year old was excited, feeling like today was just going to be one of the good ones, then again, he had had a lot of good days since being adopted.

The two lived in muggle housing near the edge of a small town where not much happened, called Knothole. They didn't mind it so much, as Charles Hedgehog was not only good with magic based science, but liked working with muggle science as well. "To learn from one is to learn for the other" he would sometimes say. Luckily, Knothole was one of the few places where Muggles were aware of the magic users existence, and accepted them openly. The ministry of magic didn't know about this village though.

Collin came down in his usual favorite green t-shirt and jacket, looking about ready to take on the world. Charles smiled as he handed the boy his favorite cereal. "Ready for the day, I see." Charles chuckled.

"Well it wasn't going to wait for me." Collin pointed out with a grin.

Charles just smirked and went back to reading "The Daily Prophet". His smirk turned to a frown as he hid behind his newspaper, not wishing for his adopted son to see his expression and get worried. Collin got worried very easily, and was often times very apologetic. "Death Eaters strike again!" was the title on the front page, and it concerned Charles greatly. The Death Eaters were a group of wizards who believed that muggles were useless creatures that should be cast as servants or slaves to be more accurate. Leading them were the two most terrifying wizards the humans had ever come up with; Robotnik and Voldemort, though Voldemort had supposedly been defeated last fall. When Collin had first found out about Robotnik his eyes had widened and he had stayed in one of the cupboards for hours, mumbling incoherently about something to do with his human family that Charles had thought he would have forgotten by then. Collin had been about six then. Now Collin was eleven and Charles was just waiting for something special to come.

He didn't have long to wait as a knock on the door startled the two geniuses from their routine. Collin, ever the timid one, immediately hid in the kitchen, acting like he was just taking care of the dishes. The boy was nervous around humans mainly, and had a natural sense for when they were around. He often had nightmares that Senior, his human father, had transfigured him into something so Charles couldn't find him anymore. He was the most timid thing to be found in town, at least around the humans. With the Mobians, he was almost like another person, willing to play their games if they let him, helping them with their school work on occasion, and even helping to bandage them up. Collin liked reading medical books and if it wasn't for his youth, Charles was certain that he'd already have a doctorates degree in medicine!

Charles made his way to the door calmly, half expecting it to be one of his neighbors asking for help on an invention, or someone from the ministry of magic to ask for help with a new spell. Both were good guesses, but for today, both were wrong. "Professor Dumbledore, what a pleasant surprise!" Charles smiled as he let the elderly human in. "Come in, come in, what's brought you all the way to our little town?"

Professor Albus Dumbledore smiled as he was welcomed into the Hedgehog house. He noticed a very shy brunette boy peeking out from the kitchen, only to quickly hide once more. Dumbledore was tall, thin, and judging by the silver in his hair and long beard, which was long enough to tuck into his belt, was very old. He wore long robes with a purple cloak which swept the ground, along with high heeled buckled brown boots. His bright blue eyes sparkled behind his half-moon spectacles, and his nose was very log and crooked, as though broken multiple times. Collin had felt like he had just looked at a very interesting and joyful version of himself from a far off future! But… that couldn't be right, could it? He timidly peaked out again to see the professor was talking to Charles about something, though his gaze seemed to be on Collin, and… he was smiling?

"Well, hello there." Charles turned to see that Albus was talking to Collin. "You must be young Collin."

Collin had elected at that moment to hide behind the wall again. Charles sighed. "Sorry, it takes him a bit to get used to humans. He's had bad experiences with them."

"Oh?"

"Collin, you can come out now. Professor Dumbledore is a friend." Charles said calmly, trying to coax the young one out of hiding. "He won't hurt you."

Collin timidly came out of hiding and came close enough to be heard if he spoke, but still far enough to be able to duck if something was thrown at him. Charles felt that same pang he felt each time this happened. It only took about a year of Collin's early life to turn him into this, but why?

"H…hello…" Truthfully, Collin was getting better. He could stand to be in the same room as many humans, so long as he felt there were plenty of Mobians to counter balance it. He didn't like being without a Mobian nearby unless he had to. He could handle dealing with humans, but even still he was afraid.

"My name is Professor Albus Dumbledore. I am the headmaster of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry." The older man smiled kindly at Collin as he held out a hand. Collin slowly reached out and shook the taller man's hand. When he retracted his hand, he found an envelope in his hand with his full name on it; "Collin S. Hedgehog". The boy grimaced as he looked up confused. "I would like to invite you to our school to work with your magic."

Collin looked over to Charles for an explanation, but all he saw was pride and happiness. Charles wanted this for him. "Um… thank you?"

"Hehe, Collin, it's to teach you what I can't about your magic." Charles explained. "I went to school when Professor Dumbledore still taught transfiguration. Teachers will be teaching you how to do all that, learn to control it, and even to fly a broom!"

"A… a broom?"

"Don't knock it till you try it, son. It's certainly something else!" Charles smiled largely under his big mustache. He couldn't help but smirk at the idea of his tech and muggle like son trying to fly on a broom, only for him to zoom off out of the field.

"Would you like to learn more about magic with other students?" Dumbledore asked calmly with a smile in his eyes.

Collin looked up at him, and then opened the letter, quickly read it, and looked up again. "Y…yes please…"

"Then we'll expect you on the Hogwarts Express this fall. Don't worry though, there are plenty of first years coming in with you, so you'll fit right in." Dumbledore chuckled as he turned to Charles. "I trust you'll have this under control?"

"Hehe, I just hope he doesn't get too bored with the classes, he actually breezed through the muggle courses so fast that I had to put him on this online school they made for students like him." Collin blushed as he wrinkled his face in a slight pout.

Dumbledore then laughed again at that. "I doubt that will be much of a problem." He then turned and started to leave. "I will see you this fall then, Mr. Collin Hedgehog."

Collin watched the taller human disappear without a trace in amazement. "… Father… do you think I can learn to do that someday?"

Charles smirked as he started to plan out the trip to Diagon Alley. "I don't see why not, son. I don't see why not."


	4. Chapter 4: Diagon Alley

Collin's blue eyes couldn't get any wider as he looked around Diagon Alley. Charles had never seen the boy so happy. Charles had given him the money to go and get his wand from Ollivander's Wand Emporium while he went to get the boy's text books. In the bustling alley there were all kinds of species from house elves on errands to Mobians and humans alike.

In the wand shop, Collin didn't see anyone at first, and had started to feel nervous, until he came upon a man in one of the back areas, stocking the wands. "My apologies for the wait, Mr. Hedgehog. I'm afraid I was re-shelving wands from my last customer's trials." He was tall, seemed to be some sort of old lion, with a white mane and smile wrinkles around his dark eyes. His suit was similar to that of the colonial ages, which wasn't much of a surprise considering that it was originally founded in 382 B. C., making it so old, who really cared what the owner wore so long as his merchandise was still as good as then? The lion smiled towards Collin who looked confused. "Or would you rather I address you as 'Mr. Kintobor the second'?" Collin's eyes widened at that and he shook his head vigorously. "Alright, my apologies… Senior's wand did you quite a bit of damage, didn't it?"

Collin felt himself grow smaller as his mind raced back to his first year of life. He knew many others couldn't remember that far, but he did. He just didn't know why. "Y…yes sir…" His curiosity made him wonder how this lion knew what he hadn't even told his hedgehog father. He had never told Charles his human name, just his first name.

"Chin up, child. Now you get a wand of your own, just as your sister did before you."

"You remember my sister?"

"Yes, Ms. Hope, she had refused to be called anything else." The lion smiled as he searched his inventory for a wand. "I remember every wand I've ever made and/or sold, Mr. Hedgehog." He pulled out a box and shook his head before putting it back. "12 inches, Maplewood, with a unicorn hair core. Shame she was expelled."

"Yeah…" Collin sighed. He had only a few memories of his sister, but he knew that he wanted to know her better, and that she was far kinder than their "father" had been, if you could have called Senior that. "I felt bad for her. Hogwarts was her only escape from… from him… losing her wand probably made her feel she had nothing left for her."

Mr. Ollivander came over to the young man with a soft smile. "Well, I'm sure she's alright. Your family tends to all be bright… save for Senior…" he chuckled as he handed the small human a wand. "Try that…"

Collin nodded as he looked around for a target. He bit his lip and gave the wand a small wave like what Charles did. Multiple things flew off the ground only for them to come crashing down again, startling the poor boy. "YIPES!" He gently put the wand down on the countertop again, not wishing to repeat that incident.

Ollivander just chuckled. "Don't worry. As I recall, Hope broke a bottle of my ink with her first try. I'll try for another one." He took a quick once over of the boy before smirking. "You know, I think I have just the thing for you… Hold on." He went into the back and glanced over the wands. He pulled out a wand that was one of his older wands, yet it hadn't found it's wizard/witch yet. "This one is finicky, but I like to try and see if it'll take to anyone." He mutters partially to himself as he climbs down his ladder and makes his way back over to the boy. He bends down and looks at the boy. "How about you try this one?" He says with a light smile.

Collin looks at it wearily and slowly takes hold of it. Suddenly he feels a bright feeling in him as a bright light fills the room, causing him to look around in surprise, the mess around him fixing itself. When the small bit of magic is done, he looks at it with worry, as though he's done something wrong. "Um… did I… er…"

"Ah, finally."

"Huh?"

"I've been waiting for a long time for that wand to choose its wizard. It's quite picky you know." Ollivander smiled. "The wand chooses the wizard, young man. This wand has chosen you." Collin manages a small smirk at that. "This wand is made of Acacia wood, is 12 inches, and quite pliable. With a unicorn hair for its core. Quite good for a powerful wizard in the making, that is, if you can manage to control it."

Collin looked at the wand carefully, his blue eyes studying it, as though it held answers for him. He then turned to the lion with a smile, feeling confident about the whole thing, much to his own surprise. "I think I can handle it. It chose me for a reason, eh?"

"That's right."

After Collin paid for his wand, he left the shop and noticed that the streets had quieted down a bit. A human outside had dropped quite a few books it seemed. He was about his age with darker skin, black hair, brown eyes, and had thick black glasses. He was mumbling to himself as though embarrassed. Collin didn't usually like dealing with humans, but he figured he'd have to get used to them at some point. He made his way over to the taller human.

"Need a hand?" He asked gently as he started to pick up the books.

"T…Thanks." The two picked up all the books and had them in the taller boy's bag quickly. After they were done, the two dusted themselves off. Collin found that the boy was only a few inches taller than him rather than what he had suspected. "I'm Rowan Khanna. What's your name?"

"Collin Hedgehog." Collin smiled. This boy seemed just as nervous as he did.

"Huh, you look human to me." The two chuckled at the lame joke.

"Maybe, but goodness knows most humans don't like me." Collin sighed as he thought about his past. Then he frowned and shook his head. No, it wasn't that "most humans" didn't like him… it was just the ones he was related to. "Or maybe it's just those who are genetically similar to me…" He gave off a slight scowl as he muttered this.

It was then that Rowan noticed the wand in Collin's hand. "Huh, is that an Acacia wood wand?"

Collin grimaced. "Yes, how did you know?"

"Oh, my family runs a tree farm for wands and broom wood. So I'm something of an expert."

Collin smiled. "That's cool. My father just runs a lab outside a muggle village. We fix things for both wizards and muggles there."

"That's amazing. Oh, I'm also somewhat of an expert on Hogwarts." Rowan blushed at this. "I'm a bit of a nerd. See, I've been reading _Hogwarts: A History_ already in anticipation for my first year." Collin couldn't help his grin as he felt like he had found a kindred spirit, and in a human of all species! "I love reading and learning, especially about magic. I want to be the youngest professor to ever teach at Hogwarts!" Then he laughed a bit half-heartedly at a thought. "Also, staying inside and reading keeps me from going outside and farming." Collin let out a chuckle at that. Rowan then had a somewhat sad gaze as another thought came to him. "That… and the fact that I don't have any friends…"

Collin grimaced at that. He hated seeing anyone sadder than him. That, and this human was the first one his age, and magically inclined, that he had met; and he liked the conversation they had been having so far. "We can be friends…" He offered with a smile.

Rowan looked surprised and confused. "You don't think I'm too nerdy and weird? People usually think I'm too nerdy and weird."

Collin scoffed. "Rowan, you and I will be famous for that soon. Besides, people think I'm weird too. I'd rather be weird than normal."

"Why do they think you're weird?"

"Well for one, I ran away from my family when I was one, and for another I got adopted by a hedgehog."

"Huh… if you don't mind my asking, what was your original family? Uh, if it's not to personal that is…" Rowan grimaced, not sure how he was supposed to handle this sort of thing, do you talk about it, do you not…

Collin thought about it. It had been years ago, and Senior had probably gotten himself killed, exiled, or arrested by now. He shrugged. "I don't mind, but you might. My name was originally Collin Snivilous Kintobor the second."

"Kintobor? As in Hope Kintobor?!"

"Ah, so people do remember my sister…" Collin muttered. 'I last saw her when I was one. I miss her, sure, but truthfully, I just want to find her to clear up some things.' Collin then sighed. His eyes were somewhat duller now. "Yes, that was my sister's name…"

"The same Hope Kintobor who was expelled from Hogwarts for breaking school rules in search of the fabled cursed vaults?" Rowan now looked amazed.

"That's what I heard…" Collin looked a little concerned now. "How do you know all of this?"

Rowan grimaced. "I know almost everything about Hogwarts!" Then he blushed. "Besides, that was a big story in the Daily Prophet. Everyone at school will know."

"Greeeaaaat… a story that's over a decade old, and it's going to haunt me forever… brilliant." Collin grumbled. "That's another reason why they'll think I'm weird too, in case you aren't counting anymore."

Rowan then surprised the young boy with a smile. "Then we'll just have to be weird together!"

Collin's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Of course! Hey, can I see your letter?" He pulled out his own.

Collin reached into his bag to pull out his.

 ** _"Dear Collin Hedgehog,_**

 ** _We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry._**

 ** _Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1st. We await your owl by no later than July 31st._**

 ** _Yours Sincerely,_**

 ** _Minerva McGonigal_**

 ** _Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."_**

Collin smirked as they both looked over their letters from the deputy head mistress. "I couldn't be more excited to get to Hogwarts."

"Me too! My mum gave me just enough to buy something special for school. I want something that will let everyone at Hogwarts know that I'm a serious intellectual who is well on his way to being Head Boy." Rowan then grimaced. "The only problem is… I don't know what to get…"

Collin chuckled. "A smart looking scarf is always good."

"Great idea! Smart, and functional!"

"I'm glad we met, Rowan. It will be nice to see a friendly human face at school, hehe. Especially one who knows Hogwarts so well."

"Me too, Collin! See you later on the Hogwarts Express!" Rowan replies as he heads off towards his mother, who is calling him over.

"Nice to see you've actually made a friend already, Collin." Came the chuckle of Charles Hedgehog.

"Yes, I…" Collin turned around excitedly to talk about it, but was instantly shocked by the small brown pigmy owl that was sitting in a cage, looking at him expectantly. "Oh!"

"Hehe, meet your new owl, Collin. You'll have to name him though."

Collin took hold of the cage that was only slightly smaller than him and his father. He took a few seconds to think about it. "Griff? Does that sound like a good name?" The tiny owl hooted as though in approval, making the small human chuckle. This had been a great day, and was going to be a great year.


	5. Chapter 5:The Hogwarts Express

Collin looked around Platform 9 and ¾ with a touch of hesitancy. He hadn't truly left Charles side for long since he had been found. Charles just smirked and ruffled the boy's spikey brown hair. "It's going to be fine, Collin. I'll tell you what, we'll write to each other every week. You can tell me all about how much you've learned at school, and I'll tell you what the latest thing I fixed was. How does that sound?"

Collin grimaced as he found himself feeling like he was a small child trying to make a deal to get desert early. "Heh, alright, father." The two hugged before Collin heard the whistle and left to make his way onto the train.

Parents called out to their children with "Love you" s and "See you for Christmas" along with the occasional "Don't forget to write!"

Collin had found an empty car and looked nervously with a small wave at his father, trying to keep himself calm. Nothing was going to happen just because he went to school. He wasn't being sent away because he had done something wrong. He was just being sent to school. He'd see his father again for the holidays and again in the summer. Everything was going to be fine. The smile on the old hedgehog as the train pulled away assured him of that. He soon changed into his robes, unknowing of how long it would take to get to Hogwarts.

He opened one of his books and brought out a journal, starting to take notes on spells, marking them down for what they were, what they would do, and how the wand movements worked. Due to only having the first year's book on these spells, he found himself done within an hour. After this, he started to work on a list of potions, and the ingredients that he'd need, as well as how to brew the potions. He found himself captivated with the defensive spells and potions as he kept studying, only partially aware of the few other students who joined him.

Some were Mobians, a few were humans, but all in all, with his books in hand, Collin found himself quite calm, even though he acknowledged that there were people around him. As the sun set, he pulled in his curiosity and put away his books, nibbling lightly on some sugar cookies that he had packed for the trip. The cookies were a favorite treat he called "Sugar Leaves" simply because he had once poured in green food coloring by accident, and then proceeded to turn the cookie shapes into leaves because he had thought it was a good idea. Charles had certainly been surprised by the seven year old when he was caught chewing on "leaves".

When Collin stepped out of the train with his future classmates, he found himself face to face with a man who was physically his exact opposite. This man was a giant in Collin's eyes, standing at least ten feet tall, wearing a full on brown beard and mangy mane. His chocolate brown eyes filled with glee as he looked at the new students. He wore the outfit of a forester and had the scent of the woods on him. "First years, over here!" He called out in a jovial, but loud voice. This was Rubeus Hagrid, the gamekeeper of Hogwarts. He was a half-giant, and Collin felt that he would have to be careful so that this giant would actually see him, just so that he wouldn't be stepped on at least. Thankfully, Hagrid noticed the young boy as many students gathered around.

Hagrid led them down to the lake which held a magnificent view of the castle in the night, lit up with an eerie beauty that spoke highly of mystery and magic. The boats were all about to leave, and Collin, had yet to find a spot, when Hagrid spotted him.

"Over here, lad." He called over to the tiny human with hedgehog styled hair. "There ya go." He fitted him into a boat with a few Mobian children. "Let's shove off." He said as he got into his own boat, being so big, he had to sit alone in it.

As they floated towards the castle, being pulled by nothing they could see, Collin couldn't help but feel excited as his sense of wonder was fulfilled beyond what he had once believed possible. If this was how the first night went, and he hadn't even reached the castle yet, then he wondered how he would feel when the actual classes started!


	6. Chapter 6: The Sorting

Hagrid took special care to make sure all the students were inside the castle by the time that a tall sinewy feline with square glasses and dark black hair came down the stairs. She gave the half-giant a quick nod before he made his way off towards the hall.

The Mobian witch wearing emerald robes then gave a hardened gaze over the new first years. "My name is Professor McGonagall, and I welcome you to Hogwarts. The start of term banquet will begin shortly. Before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. Your house will be like your family here at Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your dormitory, and spend free time in your house's common room." The witch explained as she continued down the stairs, taking note of the hundred or so students gathered before her. "There are four houses, each with its own noble history; Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose points and likely give you detention. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, which is a great honor. I do hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours." She then started towards a large door. "The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school, so I suggest you make yourselves presentable while waiting."

Collin took note of all around him; from his new friend, Rowan, to the humans and Mobians who looked like trouble. He was excited. Unfortunately, he noticed a few people, one in particular, from the human city he had once lived in. Oh sure, they had only been babies when he had last seen her, but he had always had a sense of recognition, not to mention, his own memory never let him forget anything for too long, if at all. It was a blessing, and a curse.

"What are you doing here, Kintobor?" Snarled an average height human girl with dark brown hair that looked like a mess in the front, dark purple eyes that were outlined by hatred befitting of the humans he had known in his first year of life. "Your father said you were dead."

Collin closed his eyes for a second to organize his thoughts as students gathered round the duo. Rowan looked concerned and worried. When Collin's eyes opened again, he was calm. "I'm afraid you have me confused for someone else, miss. My name is Collin Hedgehog. I'm an eleven year old human who was adopted by a hedgehog when I was two, and have since been raised among Mobians and humans alike. I do not hold any association with the Kintobor house, save for Miss Hope Kintobor, and even that is thin." The way he spoke was like that of an adult, but the firmness in his stance was like that of a threatened animal, ready to run. His blue eyes were clear, to the point, and focused. He didn't want to get into any fights this early in his first year… if ever… However, he knew something that the other students didn't know yet. He didn't need to cast a spell to have a shield around him. That was his soul magic acting up. He knew how it worked, and if he needed to, he could control it. For now though, he would force it to be down. It couldn't protect him forever anyway. He had to learn to deal with others.

"Oh, so that's where you went." The girl stood in front of the shorter human, glaring at him, not seeming to care. "Whatever. I know who you are, and you can't fool me. You're just as cursed as your sister, Kintobor." Collin twitched at that. "My parents told me about you and your sister. You both are just cursed, and waiting to take us all down with you."

Collin let out a slight growl at this. "Do us both a favor then, and leave me be. I'm not as much trouble as you seem to wish upon us." He took a deep breath to calm himself down as Professor McGonigal returned. 'The only curse I seem to have is that I was born a human.' The feline looked between the students and then led them into the main hall where they stood in front of the entire school.

There were four long tables, and up above seemed to be the night sky with thousands upon thousands of floating candles. It was almost enough for Collin to forget the little spat that had just occurred. Almost. As they neared the end of the hall where the professors and headmaster sat, Collin took note of a dirty old hat.

One by one, the students were called, and one by one, the hat called out names, sorting them into their appropriate houses. Much to Collin's relief, he was called up as "Collin Hedgehog". He made his way up, much to the surprise of some of his classmates, as he was a human. After he climbed the stool in front of the hall, he took a deep breath, as the old pointy hat was placed upon him. Much to his surprise, the hat didn't choose right way, as it had done for many before him.

 ** _"Hmmm, interesting… plenty of resourcefulness, but smart. Loyal, and brave… interesting."_**

Collin tried to figure out what he could do, if anything to get placed in a house that Senior had not been in. Senior had been a very proud Slytherin, that much had always been obvious, and while Collin enjoyed the green of plants, he absolutely loathed snakes. He closed his eyes and started muttering.

 ** _"Not his house, eh?"_** Collin's eyes widened. He hadn't expected the hat to take his opinion into consideration. The hat was also talking in a low whisper that only Collin could hear. To the students who were watching, the hat was merely mumbling as though thinking. It wouldn't be the first time, but it rarely happened. The professors were all interested as well as to what was going on. **_"Interesting request. You have the brains to do it though, it's all right here! Slytherin could help you on the way to greatness, there's no doubt about that. You could end up even greater than he had ever hoped to be…"_** The hat looked deeper into his thoughts and saw reasons that justified the boy's fear. **_"Very well then… GRYFFINDOR!"_** the sorting hat shouted as it was lifted up.

Collin's eyes opened wide as he jumped off the stool with glee. He made his way over to where he sat next to a young Mobian lion cub with blonde fur and bright eyes at the Gryffindor table. Soon after, Rowan Khanna also joined at the table, much to Collin's delight.

The headmaster rose from his seat and announced things like "Harry Potter is safe" and for all to have a good year. Collin had heard of the "Boy who lived", after all, who hadn't. It had only happened about a month or so ago. Collin took a deep breathe as he thought about all that had happened around him, and those he knew. Many had been captured or killed by the Death Eaters, his original family was full of them, save for himself and his sister. He had only been an infant when he escaped from Senior, but his mind was always advanced, always thinking, always planning. His sister had tried to take him with her when she fled, he knew that she had. Things didn't often work out for the two of them. He knew she was alive somewhere though. He also knew that he had been lucky to be found by Charles Hedgehog. Maybe if he ever found his sister, he could ask Charles to adopt her as well.

Collin's rare childish thought was pushed aside as the speech ended and food suddenly appeared on the table. Many of the first years were surprised, while others were not so much. Mostly the children of muggles were the most shocked. Collin was only surprised because Charles, though quite gifted in magic, preferred to act as a muggle did, feeling that depending on magic for everything would only cause trouble. Collin didn't mind it one bit, grateful to know that he was capable of working with both sides of the spectrum and help many with his skills. He actually liked to tinker with gadgets on a rare occasion…

All thoughts of this faded as he started to join in with his new house and enjoy the food with them. A young blue hedgehog that was in his last year smirked at the young human. "Hey, Collin, pass the potatoes?"

"Sure thing."


	7. Chapter 7:Welcome to Hogwarts

Collin and Rowan both made their way up the stairs with their classmates to the Gryffindor Common room, excitement in their new lives while also tired from the experiences they had already had. The common room had a grand fireplace to sit next to and study, and Collin could already tell he'd probably be camped there for a while.

Rowan pulled him aside after the rules were explained. "It's fantastic to see you again, Collin. I'm so happy we both got put in Gryffindor." Rowan grinned from ear to ear. "Would you like to hear an exhaustive history of our house, including a comprehensive biography of our house founder?"

"Hehe, not at the moment, I'm a bit overwhelmed already. For now, let's just take it all in…" Collin chuckled at his new friend's enthusiasm.

"It's incredible, isn't it? Even better than I imagined…"

"It really is amazing. I can't wait to meet our fellow Gryffindors!"

A snyde remark made the short boy jolt and wince. "I can't believe they even let you in here after your sister got expelled, and ruined Gryffindor's reputation." Collin groaned. Merula Snyde pointed out his heritage, so this was, I his mind, partially her fault.

He was about to make a comment when much to his surprise, Rowan beat him to it! "Collin will be an outstanding Gryffindor. I'm assuming you aren't, since you spend your time bullying first-years."

The third year in question just rolled his eyes and kept practicing his wand movements in a corner. "Whatever. I'll be keeping an eye on **_both of you._** "

Rowan sighed and looked back at Collin. "Sorry. I know you asked me to follow your lead back in Diagon Alley, but I can't let anyone talk to my friend like that."

Collin let a real genuine smile show. "Thanks, Rowan. Something tells me that won't be the last time my sister is brought up. Especially if word travels any faster. Have you had a chance to look at your timetable?"

"Yes! Can you believe it? Herbology with Professor Sprout, Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall… what are you most looking forward to, Collin?"

Collin took a moment to think before smiling. "Potions. I'm excited by the challenge of Potions. They say if you an survive Professor Snape's class, you can survive anything, and survival is one of my best skills." Collin sounded a little proud about that, but wouldn't go into detail.

"But what if you don't survive?" Rowan started worrying as he thought about how scary the professor was. "I'm personally looking forward to Charms Class." Then his attitude went back to a smile. "Luckily, we have Charms Class with Professor Flitwick first thing tomorrow! See you there, Collin!"

Collin smirked at the taller boy as he ran to find his bunk. "See you there, Rowan." Collin took a quick look at a notebook in his robe pocket on the list of Charms to study this year and smirked. "We've got this." He then retired to his bed as well, happy to notice it was near his friend, though Collin got changed under the covers and out of everyone's sight.


	8. Chapter 8:Charming to Meet you

The next day, Collin found himself moving swiftly through the corridors after a quick breakfast of toast and orange juice. He couldn't help it. He was about to learn his first spell. He carried with him a bag that was almost as big as him, which surprised others around him what with how fast he raced to his class. He had Charms this morning with the other first year Gryffindors.

He made his way over to the teacher, who was a human like him, but seemed to also be as short as him! It gave him quite a delight as he noticed it, before realizing that the man's pointy ears indicated he was at least half elf. He didn't care though. He was going to learn magic! He figured he should introduce himself. He was still a bit nervous. "Pleased to meet you, Professor Flitwick. I'm really looking forward to Charms."

Flitwick looked the boy over and recognized him from the staff's conversations on new students. "You're Collin Hedgehog! If you're anything like your sister, Hope, you'll do just fine. She was one of my most skilled students." Collin's eyes widened in shock and awe. That was the first good thing he had heard of her in years. Flitwick proceeded to ruin it… only a little… by continuing with; "That being said, she was also one of my most rebellious students… are you going to follow the rules?"

"I'm certainly not up for trouble. I'll follow as best as I can. I'm only here to learn, sir." Collin looked deflated, which worried the old teacher.

"Very well, Mr. Hedgehog. Please have a seat. Class is about to begin." Collin went close to Rowan and sat down, opening his book, retrieving his quill and ink, and looking expectantly at the teacher. "Welcome to your very first Charms Class at Hogwarts. I will be your instructor, Professor Flitwick. Please pay close attention to the instructions, and take great care practicing the spells you learn. Today we will be learning a very important spell known as the **_Wand-Lighting Charm._** " Flitwick pulled out his wand. "This charm is useful in dark places, whether you are searching a shadowy room for hidden dangers," He then chuckled. "Or trying to find a scroll that rolled under the sofa." He took a stance and waved his wand carefully. Collin took note on how it went. " ** _LUMOS!"_** The wand lit up brightly. "Now it's your turn to give it a try. You're probably wondering how. I'll explain it to you. Listen closely." Collin's quill was already inked, as was Rowan's while they listened to instructions. After a few minutes, Flitwick asked a question. "Lumos provides…?"

Collin's hand shot up, and the tiny elder nodded to him for an answer; "Light!"

"Very good, Mr. Hedgehog." Collin smiled again, happy to be right. "Now, you all try it. Remember… **_Lumos_**."

Collin looked over his notes again while others started practicing already. Rowan was doing both at once. After two minutes, Collin took a deep breath and cast his first spell. **_"Lumos!"_** Much to everyone in the room's surprise, the spell was quite bright from the young wizard, though, probably not as bright as his blush as he realized what he had done.

Flitwick on the other hand was happy. "Well done, Mr. Hedgehog. That's the **_best_** executions of the **_Wand-lighting charm_** I've seen from a first-year in quite some time. Ten points to Gryffindor." Collin's grin just wouldn't go away.

Rowan even congratulated his smaller friend. "Nice work, Collin! I read everything I could find on the wand-lighting charm, and yours was still better! You're a natural."

Collin grimaced and rubbed the back of his shaggy brown hair. "Heh, thanks… um… Potions is next. I have a feeling facing Snape won't be so easy…"


	9. Chapter 9:Pestering Potions

Once Collin had gathered his bags, he raced down through the castle, trying to catch up to Rowan in the Dungeons of the castle where they would find their Potions Class. Just outside of said class, Collin spotted Rowan talking to a Slytherin Girl.

"Wait is that Rowan?"

"Admit it!" The girl growled. It was Merula Snyde.

Rowan looked confused as he grimaced. "I can't!"

"Say I'm the most powerful witch at Hogwarts!" She snapped.

Collin made his way over as Rowan kept up his part of the argument. "It's logically impossible! I've made numerous lists of the most powerful witches at Hogwarts based on multiple factors." Collin smirked. That was Rowan for you. "You're less powerful than Professor McGonagall, Professor Sprout, Madam Hooch, Madam Pomfrey, every single seventh-year… your just a first-year like me!" Rowan pointed out.

Merula growled. "I'm nothing like you."

Collin sighed and decided to distract her. "I don't know why the most powerful witch at Hogwarts is bullying a first year. Unless she's insecure…" Collin may not talk to humans a lot, but he had some skills in charisma that were surprising considering he didn't like talking to anyone but his Hedgehog family before coming to Hogwarts.

"Who do you think you are?" Merula growled at him.

"Why I think I'm Collin Hedgehog, a lowly first year who hopes to learn to at least be competent." Collin smirked.

Rowan grimaced as he put in his two cents. "Collin is the one who should be claiming to be the best wizard. Professor Flitwick said he cast the best wand-lighting charm of any first-year."

Merula then went into her mocking attitude. "Oh right, you're the stupid Kintobor brat who's sister lost her mind, disgraced her house, got expelled, and was never heard from again. You belong in Gryffindor. You'll probably end up like her."

"Hehe, madness is a trait of my human family, but that mostly happened to the Slytherins in the family, Merula Snyde."

"I heard the professors talking about you at the feast. Do you think you're better than me or something? I should put you out of your misery before you ruin Hogwarts like your sister tried to."

Collin sighed. "Don't you think it's stupid to talk about someone who I haven't seen since infancy as though I know them? At any rate, I don't want any trouble, Merula."

"You don't have a choice."

Collin decided to try to reason with her. He had promised his dad and Professor Flitwick already that he didn't want to fight. "You know we can talk this out. We can be friends. I'm sure I could learn a lot from you, and you could be surprised by what I know."

Merula laughed. "You think you're good enough to be friends with me? You really are as mad as your sister."

Professor Snape came out to the hallway at this point and noticed the trio. "Kin… Hedgehog." Collin looked up a little surprised. Professor Snape was a human who looked almost exactly like him, but taller with black hair, purple robes, and colder dark eyes. Truthfully, his pale skin and long nose were the thing that made the two look so similar. It didn't earn any favor though. "I knew you would be trouble."

"Professor Snape!" Merula said in shock.

Collin took a deep breath and explained himself. "My apologies for seeming to radiate trouble, sir. Merula and I were discussing the benefits of **_NOT_** bullying my friend here."

Snape sneered, a trademark move for him. "Get to Potions class. Be thankful you aren't headed to detention."

Rowan smiled as the two boys entered the room. "Thanks for standing up for me, Collin. I've never been very strong. Or very good at making friends. I'm glad that you and I are both in Gryffindor."

Collin looked a little worried. "Did you hear what Merula said? Why would the professors be talking about me at the feast?"

Rowan shrugged. "I don't know, but we better get to our seats. We're in enough trouble as it is."

Collin nodded and the two got to their seats. Professor Snape stood in front of the room near a large cauldron. "This is your first Potions Class," He sounded bored and annoyed all at once. "And based on the bewildered look in your eyes, this could very well be your last. Unlike your other classes, this is not a place for foolish wand-waving, and intolerable screeching of mispronounced incantations. You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making." Collin was writing down the man's words word for word, making sure to take this teacher's word as law. In the dungeons, it pretty much was. "Ensnare the senses. Bewitch the mind. Keep your mouths shut." The dark professor sighed. "Today you will produce a simple **_Cure for Boils_** Potion. Know that I expect perfection. And know that there will be severe consequences for failing to meet my expectations." He gestured to the board with instructions that Collin was already halfway through writing in his journal. "Let us begin."

Merula sneered as she was stuck sitting next to Collin and Rowan. "You think you're so **_special_** , but you're already guaranteed to **_fail_** , Kintobor."

"I'd ask what that's supposed to mean, but I can already guess you'll sabotage me when I'm not looking. I'm not daft, Merula. Learn to call me by my first name or by Hedgehog though. I truly do hate the Kintobor name. It's not mine after all." He started working on his potion, not truly caring about Merula's threat. "If this blows up in my face though, I'll tell what I know to be the truth. You don't scare me, Merula. I've seen things you don't know, or understand. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to brew this perfectly before you mess it up, that way I'll at least know I was on the right track."

Merula blinked and the trio started on their potions, Rowan looking at his friend with a bit of concern while Merula was looking at Collin like he was a freak. Collin was too busy with his nose to his notes as he followed the directions. Snape gave a quick demonstration, and Collin wrote all movements down as quickly as he could, managing to peer in the cauldron as well to see the coloring it should be at certain steps. "Are you trying to lose your eyebrows, Hedgehog?" Snape asked with a sneer. The young boy shook his head and backed off. He was short and had a problem seeing in there anyway. "Crush your snake fangs into a powder." He pointed out. "Don't make me repeat myself. Focus!" He turned around before asking quickly, "Hedgehog, what did I say about the snake fangs?"

"Crush them into a powder." He quickly spouted.

"At least you seem to be able to repeat things. You might make a decent parrot." He finished up and then turned to the class as Collin tried to figure out the backhanded complement. "Finish your potions quickly. I want to see how poorly you executed this recipe." Collin reached his table after Merula and Rowan.

'She's already done something… I'll deal with whatever happens. I should have known this kind of crap would happen because of my human family.' Rowan was talking about how fortunate he was that he didn't have any pimples yet. Collin took a look at Merula's potion.

"Staring won't help to make your potion better than mine." He shrugged. Even though he knew that Merula had done something to his potion, he was satisfied with how well it looked.

Snape eventually called out to the class. "I'm eager to see your attempt at the cure for boils potion." His voice said he was anything but eager. With a final pour of his last ingredient, and a quick stir, Collin finished up his potion. It actually looked correct for a moment. 'Hmm. Perhaps Hedgehog isn't absolutely incompetent after all…'

"It worked! I brewed my first potion!" Then he backed up. "Um…" He remembered what Merula had said.

"Congratulations, Collin! In all my research, hardly anyone ever brews this potion correctly on their first try."

"Yeah, back up, everyone." Collin scowled as he noticed something going wrong. "You too, Merula. I don't know what you did, but I know enough about lab accidents to say this is not going to be pretty."

"Is that Bulbadox powder? From my studies, this looks like the beginnings of the explosive reaction caused by adding bulbadox powder…" Rowan commented.

Collin frowned at Merula. "You don't even know me, and you already want to blast me away?" He quickly concentrated on the pot, hoping that his mental shield would keep it from hurting anyone. Much to the surprise of his classmates, the explosion looked to be contained and only broke the cauldron in half, spilling his potion onto the table.

Merula looked a bit surprised as well before recovering and smirking. "Congratulations. You have cured the table of boils."

Snape was angry. "You should never have been allowed inside of my classroom, Hedgehog." He scowled. "You are somehow even worse than your sister. Ten points from Gryffindor! What do you have to say for yourself."

"Simply the truth, Merula sabotaged me." Collin scowled as he got out his cleaning supplies for this sort of thing and got started. "I think she did something to my cauldron."

Snape wasn't hearing it though. "Take responsibility for your incompetence, Hedgehog."

Collin looked up and stared Snape in the eyes, no fear showing, much to the older wizard's surprise. "I would, but Merula threatened me and my friend, and she said she would do something to make sure I failed in Potions." Collin then went back to cleaning while muttering. "She's threatened by me because she somehow thinks I might be a more powerful wizard."

"Is this true, Miss Snyde?" The professor asked, as though the girl would fess up.

Merula went into an innocent mode of sorts, looking up with pleading eyes. "Absolutely not, Professor. Kintobor is clearly just as mad as his sister. And just as driven to ruin everything in Hogwarts."

Snape could tell something was off. He wouldn't budge though. "Your family has represented Slytherin well, Miss Snyde. I will be watching you closely to ensure you do the same."

After Snape left, Collin finished cleaning. Rowan tried to comfort his friend. "You made the right choice by telling him about Merula. I'm sure you would have lost more House points if you didn't."

"It's only going to get worse, Kintobor." Merula sneered. "You should have known coating your cauldron with Bulbadox powder would make your potion explode."

Collin rolled his eyes. "Oh, so that's what you did."

"Whatever. Now there's no doubt that I'm the most important first-year, and you're nothing but a disgrace, just like your sister."

"Dismissed." Snape snapped at the class after Collin had sufficiently finished cleaning the table. "I've had enough of all of you for one day."

Collin sighed as he packed up. "I lost the points I earned from Charms. Man, what's going to happen when I get back to the Gryffindor Common Room?"


	10. Chapter 10:Ensnaring Experiences

Collin was about to enter the common room when he ran into a shy young lion cub with light blonde fur. "You're Collin Hedgehog, Right?" He asked nervously.

Collin sighed in slight defeat. Word travels fast. "…Yes. Who are you?"

"Ben Copper. I'm a first year Gryffindor like you. I just wanted to say thank you for standing up to Merula Snyde." Collin blinked in surprise.

"Who told you I did that?"

"I was watching from the end of the corridor." He muttered nervously. "I've been following her so she can't sneak up on me, and if she sees me, I'll at least have a chance to run away." He was a real cowardly lion it seemed. "She tormented me the entire way here on the Hogwarts express. She kept threatening me, and calling me a Mudblood." A mudblood was a cruel name for wizards and witches who were born from non-magical parents.

"I'm sorry, Ben. That's terrible."

Ben took a deep breath and continued. "Merula is obsessed with being the best witch in our year, and she thinks she has to impose her will on us to prove it." He then smiled weakly at Collin. "I'm just glad someone was brave enough to stand up to her. I'm certainly not. It's a joke that I got put into Gryffindor." He truly felt like the cowardly lion at this point.

Collin smirked. "Everyone is afraid of something, Ben."

Ben grimaced. "Unfortunately, I'm afraid of everything. I come from a Muggle family, so all of this is new and scary to me."

Collin nodded. "I know how you feel. I come from a wizard family, and this is hard for me too. I'll try to help you however I can, Ben."

Ben gave a real smile at that. "Thanks, Collin. I'll see you around."

Collin sighed and entered the Common Room. He was immediately encountered by a far taller feline witch which seemed to be part Cheetah. "You've already lost Gryffindor Ten house points?! We're in fourth place now. What happened?" Collin grimaced.

"I'm sorry, but who are you, and why are you talking to me about House points?" Collin already felt miserable about it.

"I'm your prefect, Angelica Cole." She snapped, showing her Prefect badge. "It's a prefect's job to keep order in the house, and help first-years like you with their problems."

"… trust me on this one, you don't want to help me with mine…"

Angelica didn't hear that though. "Considering what your sister did to Gryffindor's reputation, I should have kept a better eye on you."

Collin snapped at this. "I'm not my sister. I know she broke school rules, and somehow damaged Gryffindor's reputation, but I want to be a credit to our house, so how about someone quit judging based off of her and start judging my actions as my own. I can't be the only first year to make mistakes!"

"We all make mistakes, Collin." The cheetah sighed as she looked down at the tiny human. "Of course, we all don't make mistakes that cost Gryffindor ten house points. In any case, Professor Snape already sent you a letter directly to our common room."

Collin looked up with a raised brow, already suspecting more trouble. "Why wouldn't he send it to me?"

Angelica looked at him with a roll of her eyes. "Probably because he despises you."

Collin rolled his own at that. "He can get behind my human family and Merula Snyde in that line."

Angelica grimaced. "Snape hates everyone, so I wouldn't take it personally, but I would read that letter immediately." She handed it to him.

Collin opened it up, and read it aloud. "Hedgehog, I have discovered evidence that your potion may have indeed been tampered with. While it does not prove your innocence, it does cast some doubt on my belief that you are hopelessly incompetent. Bring me a jar of pickled slugs from the potions storeroom, and I will consider restoring your house points. Snape." Collin looked at it with disbelief. "There are directions to the Potions Storeroom at the bottom of the letter…"

Rowan felt bad for Collin. "Want me to go with you, Collin? It's the least I can do after you saved me from Merula."

Collin thought about and shook his head. He suspected trouble already. He didn't want Rowan in anymore than he already was. He sighed. "Thanks, Rowan… but I should go alone. I don't trust this, and I don't want you in anymore trouble because of me than you already are."

Rowan grimaced. "Well, be careful. I would hate to have Snape kill my only friend."

"I actually suspect Merula, not Snape, but eh, whatever." Collin smirked.

Angelica was excited though. "He's offering to give us back the ten house points you lost! Hurry to the potions storeroom before he changes his mind!" Collin sighed and started off.

Collin went and followed the directions until he reached a corridor at the end of a long hall. "Yeah… nothing suspicious about this one bit." He sighed and walked in. "I can't see a thing… and the door shut and locked behind me, didn't it…" He confirmed this by trying to get out. "Of course…" He had read up on the spell to unlock the door, but wasn't able to do it yet. He couldn't get the wand waiving right just yet. "I'd best cast my wand-lighting charm to help me see…" He pulled out his wand and cast the spell. " ** _Lumos!_** " He found himself surrounded by vines… "Really glad Rowan isn't trapped in here with me… what is this thing?!"

From the other side of the door he heard the voice of Merula Snyde. "A deadly plant called Devil's Snare. Some fourth-year Slytherins showed it to me when I first arrived." Collin flinched. He wished he had read more about herbology already. "It's sensitive to light. If you're really better at the Wand-Lighting Charm than me, escaping should be no problem."

"Merula… you locked me in here!?" He wasn't that surprised, but surely she realized that he couldn't unlock the door from where he was, right?

Merula chuckled from the other side. "Along with sending you that fake letter from Snape. I told you things would only get worse for you, Kintobor."

"Knew it…" Collin scowled as he was backed up against the wall. To a normal sized student, the plant was already huge. To Collin? It was monstrous sized.

"Something has to stop you from ruining Hogwarts. It may as well be Devil's Snare…"

"AHHH! Damn it, woman!" Collin yelled as he jumped out of the way of some of the vines, only to be grabbed by others. He knew Merula thought this was best to protect the school from what he was supposedly, but this was ridiculous! "I have to get out of here!" He grunted. "Merula wasn't lying though." He noticed as his light hand kept some of the vines away from his wand. "The Devil's Snare seems to be recoiling from the light! I'll try to hold it off with Lumos while I call for help!" He cast Lumos again, increasing the light temporarily. Some of his robes were torn now, but he didn't care. "It worked!" Then he noticed more. "Oh no! There are so many of them!" He cast it again, and after the light went down again, some tried to strangle him. "I've got to get out of here!" His vision was starting to fade as the plant held him up off the ground. "HELP! Someone, Please!" He cried out. His shield wasn't working as well as it did against spells or attacks from people. It had a limit apparently, and this plant was putting him at his limit as well. He didn't know how much longer he could hold up. Collin tugged at the vines and cast Lumos once more. "L…L… ** _Lumos!"_** He was dropped to the ground, barely breathing but managed to scramble to the door once more.

"What's goin' on in there?" came a gruff voice from outside. "Outta the way!"

Collin tried to reach the door, but was once more ensnared by the vines. In came the half-giant, Hagrid! "Gulpin' gargoyles, Gryffindor! Get away from that Devil's Snare. Yer scarin' it!"

Collin could help but let out a weak laugh as the plant tried to choke him. "I'm scaring it?!"

Hagrid smirked and started tugging at the vines, helping the boy out. "Let's get yeh outta here…"

Once Collin was safe outside and got his breath back, he looked up to the half-giant and smiled weakly. "You saved my life! Thank you, Mister…"

"Rubeus Hagrid, at yer service. I'm Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. Pleasure to meet yeh."

"Collin Hedgehog. I'm not usually this much trouble, I swear. Apparently being related to Hope Kintobor means more danger than being related to our father and uncle though, ironically enough…" He grumbled.

Hagrid looked at him amused. "Ah, yer the one everybody's been talkin' about. Maybe trouble really does run in yer family." He knelt down to look the boy over. He could seem some scars under the tatters of his uniform. "How'd yeh end up in there, Collin?"

Collin stood himself up to full height. "A first year Slytherin named Merula Snyde locked me inside."

"She did?!" Hagrid was surprised. "What are ye goin' ter do?"

Collin sighed. "I suppose I should tell Dumbledore. He's the headmaster and should know how to deal with it."

"Do yeh have any proof?" Hagrid asked with concern.

Collin shook his head. "Not really. I have a fake letter from Snape, but I can't prove she's the one who wrote it."

Hagrid nodded. "Professor Dumbledore would want the help yeh, but even he can' do anything if yeh don' have proof. I'd head back to yer common room, an take some time the think, Collin. I don't want yeh doin' somethin' yeh'll regret." He then pointed out the boy's clothes. "Yeh might also want to do somethin' about those robes. That Devil's Snare got yeh good." Collin looked himself over and nodded. He'd mend them later with some fabric and a needle. He was grateful he had a spare set of robes.

"Thanks, Hagrid. Hopefully, I'll see you again."

Hagrid smiled. "Yeh certainly will, Collin. But fer now, yeh'd better get back the yer Common Room." Collin nodded and headed off.

Collin made it to the Gryffindor Common room in the West Towers, looking quite worn out. That didn't stop Angelica from noticing him and coming over to him. "Bloody Hell! What happened to your robes?"

Collin pursed his lips and looked up at the taller girl. "I got snared by Devil's Snare."

"WHAT? Devil's Snare?! How? What happened with Professor Snape?"

Collin rolled his eyes. "It was a trick. Merula Snyde faked the note, and trapped me in a room with Devil's Snare."

"What is it with you and this girl?"

"Ask me something I know. I think she's threatened by me for some reason. I really just think she hates me because I'm the only first-year who has stood up to her."

Angelica sighed. "And I take it you once again don't have any proof?"

Collin shook his head. "She's good. I have the fake letter from Snape, but I can't prove she's the one who wrote it."

Angelica scratched the back of her head as she thought about how rough she had been on him earlier. "Well, you can't go around the castle dressed like that. Professor McGonagall will have a fit. People already think you're mad because of your sister."

"Who, again, I haven't seen since I was an infant." Collin grumbled.

"Go and change into fresh robes, or better yet, pick something to wear outside class hours."

Collin nodded and went upstairs to his bunk. He grabbed some clothes from his trunk, dove under his blankets, and came out a few minutes later wearing a plain white shirt and some brown slacks. He didn't wear casual green all the time, and after his entanglement with the plant, he had a feeling he wouldn't be wearing it again for a while. He put his torn robes aside on his bunk with his needle and thread to fix them up later before going back down to meet with Angelica.

"Wow! That's much better. Now you don't look like someone used you to practice the Severing Charm."

Collin winced slightly at that, but Angelica didn't notice. "Thanks, but I'm mainly just happy to be alive."

"Well…" Angelica looked over his timetable. "You'd better hurry to your first flying class before you're expelled. See if you can earn back house points while you're there…"

Collin simply nodded and raced off, pulling out his spare robes from his school bag as he ran to the stairs and down the castle. Collin took a quick stop off in a restroom to change into his other uniform before going to the Training Grounds where class was taking place.


	11. Chapter 11: Flighty Experiences

Madam Hooch waited for the students that stood on either side of her next to brooms. "Welcome to your first flying class. I will be your instructor, Madam Hooch. You'll begin by observing, before learning to summon your broom in your next flying class." She looked at them with golden eyes shining. She had white hair but looked far from old as it spiked in a wind blown fashion. "Well, what are you waiting for? Everyone, step up to the left side of your broomstick."

Ben gulped. "I've been dreading this class all summer…"

Collin grimaced. As had he, but he had to be brave to help Ben. "You're afraid of heights?"

"Falling from heights, mostly. I told you I come from a Muggle Family. The idea of flying through the sky on a broom is terrifying."

Collin smirked weakly at the lion cub. "Believe it or not, I've never flown on a broom either. Dad didn't want me to worry about magic before school started, so I only focused on my muggle schooling."

"Really? You went to muggle schools?"

"Yep." Collin was a little proud of that since he knew things that some of the wizards didn't in that regard.

Ben was still scared. "I don't think I can do this, Collin…"

"You can do it, Ben. Just concentrate on the broom, and try not to think about falling. If you start to fall, we'll catch you. Alright?"

"Promise?"

"I promise to try my best." Collin nodded. He was the smallest there after all. Even smaller than most of the Mobians of his year.

Ben was still scared. "That's not very reassuring, but I suppose I have to try sooner or later…"

Madam Hooch had been watching this interaction. "Even you don't have anything to fear from today's lesson, Mr. Copper. You will only be observing today…" That helped a little. Madam Hooch then went to the front of the group. "Listen up, everyone. I am going to demonstrate proper broomstick techniques. The teacher summoned up her broom without a word and started hovering. Then she started showing her flying in a small area skills. "Keep your feet free of your robes, or you will surely fall to your death." Collin looked at her questioningly. That wasn't going to help Ben.

Rowan was muttering. "If I can eat an entire pack of acid pops in one sitting, I can certainly do this…"

Collin glanced at the taller human with a funny look. 'Acid pops? Really?' Then he looked at the broom he had. 'I wonder if my sister rode on one of these…'

"You'll likely take a painful tumbel if you lose focus for even a second. Pay attention to me!" Hooch snapped. She then looked at Collin. "What did I say about Robes?"

"Don't keep your feet in them if you don't want to die."

"Good." She then looked at the whole class again. "Listen up, boys and girls. I am going to explain several important bits of information to you." This time she was on the ground, pacing through the group of no more than twenty students. One of the students asked if the brooms had been jinxed, but she assured them they hadn't.

Merula was acting smug. "I've been to every Quidditch World Cup since I was born."

At the end, Hooch asked a question. "What Quidditch player looks for the golden snitch?" Collin's hand shot up the fastest. "Yes, Mr. Hedgehog?"

"The Seeker, Ma'am."

She nodded. "That's correct."

As the class was nearing an end, Ben and Collin started talking. "I suppose I don't have to worry about falling if I never actually fly… Thank you for helping me, Collin. I may be able to fly soon if I keep following your lead."

Madam Hooch came over and noticed this. "I think you've chosen a fine tutor, Mr. Copper." She then turned to Collin. "Mr. Hedgehog, you appear to have a knack for helping your classmates overcome their fears. Ten points to Gryffindor." Collin's heart sung. He had won back that which he had lost. Now Angelica had no reason to be angry with him!

Collin then turned back to Ben. "You just need to get used to the idea of flying, Ben." He said with a smirk. "I'm sure Rowan has some books about flying that we can borrow."

Ben smiled back. "I do like reading books. Hardly anyone ever falls to their death while reading books…"

Collin then sighed. "I've been meaning to talk to Rowan anyway. We've had a rough go of it so far, and I think he takes it harder than me. I'm… sorta used to rough goes after all…"

"You should ask him to play Gobstones! I'd play myself, but I'm afraid of getting sprayed…"

"Huh… haven't played that before… sounds fun. I'll ask. Thanks, Ben."

Collin ran off after class to find Rowan.

He found him in the Courtyard. "There you are, Rowan. Are you alright?"

"I should be asking you that!" Rowan said surprising him. "I heard you nearly got killed by Merula and some Devil's Snare!"

"Heh… well…" Collin sighed. "Hogwarts shouldn't be about bullies, and barely escaping death. It should be about learning magic, making friends, and having fun…"

"Well let's play Gobstones. I play it on the farm all the time, and it's great… I play it mostly because I'm not strong enough to help with the actual farming…" Then he smiled again. "It will be fun to play with another person for once… OH, and thanks for helping me adjust to things here, by the way…"

"Really?" Collin felt like he hadn't helped at all. "I feel you've helped me more, what with how understanding you are, and how you know pretty much everything about Hogwarts."

"I wish I could explain why Merula is such a bully…" Rowan scratched his head. "I've been researching her family to try and understand why she acts the way she does…"

"Let's just relax. You can tell me what you found out about Merula while we play…" Collin tried. He didn't want Rowan to have to worry much about Merula.

"Brilliant! Gobstones is the finest skill-testing manual dexterity game in the world! It's a bit like the muggle game of marbles, except that every time a point is scored, the loser gets sprayed in the face!"

Collin grinned at that. "That sounds bloody brilliant! What are they sprayed with?"

Rowan laughed a little in embarrassment. "No one knows, but it smells awful!"

"Well now we must play! I just have to find out how bad it smells." The two laughed as they set up their game.

"Good luck, Collin! The only time I ever lose at Gobstones is when I get distracted…"

Collin smirked. "So, Rowan, what are your favorite books?" Collin asked. Rowan instantly went into a spiel about his books until he found himself coughing at the scent of something he had been sprayed with. The boys chuckled.

"Good play, Collin. I would have countered if I wasn't so distracted…"

"Thanks, Rowan. I think I'm starting to understand Gobstones."

"How do you like Gobstones?"

"Oh, I think they're fine, but let's talk about wand wood."

"Huh?" Another spray of stink hit the darker skinned boy. "Bleh, hehe. You're doing well, Collin. I'll never win if I keep getting distracted…"

"Looks like I picked a good strategy then…"

"Let's join the Gobstones Club."

"I'd rather discuss study habits." This time, Collin got sprayed. "Bleck, that does stink."

"Hehe, told you. I can't believe you might still win though."

"The library might also burn down as well."

"WHAT?" That worked. "BLECK! Agh, seriously."

"Sorry, Rowan, didn't think that would be your reaction."

"It's fine. You beat me, Collin! Pretty impressive for your first time playing Gobstones."

"Thanks." Collin smiled.

"Good game, Collin. Some people think Gobstones isn't cool, but I've always considered it to be the thinking wizard's Quidditch. Thanks for playing. I've never ben especially good at making friends."

"Me either, so don't worry. We became friends pretty quickly…"

"Most people think I'm either a useless weakling or an awkward nerd, but you're weird like me." That was the first time Collin didn't mind being called weird. "No offence." Rowan finally realized what he had said.

Collin laughed. "I take it as a compliment."

While the two were still talking, Merula Snyde came up behind them. "Isn't this precious?" The boys turned and looked at her. Rowan was apprehensive while Collin just looked a little sad. "Hello, Kintobor. You are unfortunately looking well after wrestling with the Devil's Snare."

Collin grimaced. "You should see me on a camping trip. I like living in a cave."

"While you were off playing with plants, I've been doing a little research about your sister."

"Oh? That's old news, isn't it? Why don't you just leave me alone about her?"

This was where Merula actually got serious, and it was sad because Collin could tell she believed she was right. "Because you're a danger to Hogwarts just like her, and none of us will be safe until you're gone."

"What are you talking about, Merula?" Rowan asked curiously.

Merula smirked. "Kintobor's sister didn't just get expelled for endangering the entire school in search of some imaginary vaults…" Collin blinked in surprise. He hadn't known about any vaults having to do with her disappearance. "She immediately went missing, and the next time she was seen, she was working for Voldemort." Collin deadpanned right there. That was the biggest lie he had ever heard. Whoever her source was, it was crap.

Rowan went into a slight panic at the Dark Lord's name. "You can't say that! You have to call him **_He who must not be named!_** "

"I say what I want."

Collin rolled his eyes. "I've noticed. I also have good enough knowledge to know you're lying about my sister having anything to do with him." His eyes darkened. 'She doesn't know the truth. She doesn't know the connection between the Kintobors and the dark one… heck, she probably doesn't even know his name was Tom Riddle.'

Merula just smirked. "No wonder the professors were talking about you before the feast." She smiled darkly. "They're wondering if you work for the Dark Lord too."

Collin shook his head and sighed. "What happened to you to make you so mean? Why don't you just live your own life, and leave me alone? You don't know the truth. You scrape the surface, but fail to see the forest for the trees."

Merula growled. "Why don't you just drop out of Hogwarts? Save Gryffindor and your little friend here the embarrassment of being associated with you."

Collin raised a brow. "I think you're just afraid that I'll be better than you."

"Afraid? I'll duel you right now."

Collin waived it off and started to walk away. "You aren't worth my time, Merula. Keep your nonsense to yourself."

"DON'T WALK AWAY FROM ME!" She pulled out her wand as her purple eyes glared at the young boy. " ** _Flipendo!_** " Collin suddenly pushed Rowan out of the way of the spell as it hit him in the chest, knocking the smaller human to the ground. "Learn a few more spells, Kintobor. Maybe next time you'll put up a fight." Merula started to walk away.

Rowan helped the smaller boy up. "You okay?"

"Yeah. I've had worse."

"Merula is never going to leave us alone…"

Collin gritted his teeth, his sky blue eyes turning steel as he thought about what he needed to do. "Not unless I learn more spells, and find someone who can teach me how to duel…" He hated the idea of fighting, but he knew it was a necessary evil in this case. it was a necessary evil in this case./p


	12. Chapter 12: Firsts of Many

The next time Collin had flight class he made his way over to the training grounds with a rush. Today he would summon his broom. Madam Hooch was already waiting. "Welcome back to Flying Class. After observing for your first lesson, I will now teach you how to summon your broom. Before you can summon your broom, however, you need to learn how to maintain it. To your broom care stations!"

There was a set of tables setup with different booms for everyone to work on. Collin and Rowan were set up at a table with Merula, and a blonde Hufflepuff student named Penny Haywood.

The groups worked on trimming the edges of the bristles on their brooms, waxing the handles, and listening to Merula make empty threats while talking about how much better she was than everyone.

Collin finished his up by applying a nice shine of polish to his broom before joining the others as they prepared to summon their brooms.

"It's time to practice summoning your broom. Step up, hold out your right hand, and say… up!"

Collin and the others practiced a few times, though Merula was quite distracting as she said her broom at home was "Better than this rubbish" and a few other things that sounded just like rubbish to Collin. 'You'd think Merula would care more about her safety than her bragging…'

Hooch went down the line, eventually getting to Collin's turn. "Now, Mr. Hedgehog… let's see you summon your broom."

Collin took a deep breathe as he looked at the wand. "Up." He said calmly. The energy that the wand went to his hand with was surprising to the young eleven year old. He was quite happy with the results.

After his flight class, Collin took a break and met Ben in the Courtyard for a game of Gobstones before going to Potions Class. The strategy to win against Ben seemed to be playing on his fears, which made Collin feel bad. He apologized for startling him before rushing off to Potions Class.

It seemed that Professor Snape was going to give them another shot at making the Cure for Boils potion.

"Given the sorry state of your previous attempts, today we will be reviewing how to brew the Cure for Boils Potion." Snape rolled. "Learn this now so you don't come crying to me in a few years on the night of the ball. I suggest you listen closely lecture on the Cure for Boils, because I won't be answering any silly questions." Collin spent the entire class portion looking over his notes and concluded that he might have used a couple too many dried nettles. Snape stopped in front of Collin's desk and waited for the eleven year old to notice him.

Due to Collin's extreme fear of human adults still plaguing him a little, he didn't take long. He quickly looked up with startled blue eyes, visibly flinching at how close the adult was to him. "Y…yes… sir?" Rowan and Merula both looked at him with surprise. He didn't have that problem the other day! That time though, Snape wasn't right next to him, he had remained a good three to five feet away.

Snape either ignored it, or didn't notice. "Since you love questions so much, Hedgehog, here's one for you…" Collin looked up curious. "What is a side-effect of Pepperup Potion?" The class hadn't studied that yet, but Collin's eyes lit up.

"Steam coming out of your ears, sir."

Snape nodded. "It seems you are capable of learning, at least something." He then strode to the middle of the room near his cauldron. He then addressed the class. "For your benefit I'll demonstrate how to brew the Cure for Boils again. I suggest you pay attention."

Collin and the others made their way to the cauldron. There was a stool set aside for Collin because of his height. Snape indicated for the boy to stand on it. Collin sighed and nodded as he stood on the stool with his journal and quill. Merula and a few of the other Slytherins chuckled and muttered insults. Merula made a comment on Collin fitting into a cauldron.

"If you have been focusing, then one of you can hand me the next ingredient for this potion." While the other students were busy looking at their lists, Collin had already jumped off of his stool and grabbed the next ingredient. "At least you know how to fetch." That was as close to a thank you as the boy could hope for, and he took it with a short nod.

After that, Rowan and Collin went into the back corner to grab their potion ingredients that they would need for the Cure for Boils Potion. Rowan commented on how dark it was, and Collin pulled out his wand to cast **_Lumos_** to help them. They found all the ingredients they needed quickly after that. Then the two boys started to talk as they started to mix their potions. Collin was careful to clean his cauldron before he started mixing this time in case Merula did something again. He was grateful that she didn't.

"Hey, Collin?" Collin looked over to Rowan as he finished up. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead."

"Do you have a method for remembering all of our ingredients?"

Collin grimaced. "I'll share it later."

Professor Snape suddenly piped up as he made his way to the center of the room again. "Finish your Cure for Boils Potions. I expect to see improvement after all this review." Collin quickly put the finishing touches on said potion and turned it in. Snape sneered at it, but replied. "At least you didn't break anything this time, I suppose." Collin grimaced and shrugged. In his mind, that was a pretty good praise from the Potions Master.

After Potions, Griff found Collin and gave him a note from his Prefect, Angelica. He had to meet her and Rowan on the Training Grounds later. He met up with them, Rowan being the first there. Rowan waived. "I wonder what our Prefect wants to talk to us about?" He asked curiously.

Collin sighed as he scratched the back of his head. "I wouldn't be surprised if Merula somehow got us kicked out of Gryffindor."

Rowan looked at his smaller friend sympathetically. "Do you want to talk about what she said about your sister?"

Collin shrugged. "You know more about her than me. Most of it coming from the **_Daily Prophet_** …" Collin sighed. "Far as I can tell, my sister was obsessed with two things, the first was getting away from our abusive human family…" Rowan's eyes widened in shock. "And the second being that there were Cursed Vaults containing mysterious treasures hidden at Hogwarts." Collin shrugged again. "No one really believed her though… I was too young when I heard about it to do more then gurgle, whine, and well… whatever other noises babies make."

"You really were that young, huh?"

"It happened like ten years ago. I don't know why everyone is making such a big deal out of her actions so long after. Sure, she broke all kinds of rules, and yeah, I heard she put people in danger trying to prove she was right. I'm not following after her in that regard." Collin placed his right hand on his chest, clutching some of his robes. "Some people say she unleased curses upon Hogwarts, at least from what I read. Some say, she herself was cursed. Everyone pretty much thought she was mad. Heh, now it seems that ten years later, they all think the same of me." His eyes darkened once more as he thought of something else. "Merula was lying about her being involved with Voldemort, but she was right about her being missing." Rowan flinched at Collin's bravery to use "His" name. "After she got expelled, she ran away from home, trying to take me with her. Heh, it was one of the times that I saw my father actually try to… never-mind, look no one has seen her since, and the closest rumors I know, say that she came back here to try and find the vaults again." Collin pursed his lips as he tried to think on something. "Sometimes I wonder if she really was mad… it runs in the family after all… and then…" He looked up with his pleading sky blue eyes filled with sadness. "I sometimes wonder if I'm mad too…"

Rowan smirked and ruffled the brown spiky headed boy. "I don't think you're mad, Collin. I think you're brilliant, and I'm glad you're my friend."

Collin smiled once more, some of his worries squished for the moment. "Thanks, Rowan." Collin then scowled as he looked towards the castle. "Merula will keep attacking us until we do something to stop her." He thought about his shield, and remembered it had limits against plants like the Devil's Snare that had tried to kill him. He didn't want his friends to suffer because of him. He didn't like fighting, but he couldn't run forever. "Any ideas on how we defend ourselves?"

It was then that Angelica showed up. "That's exactly why I invited you here, Collin."

Collin looked ashamed. "You know about what happened with Merula?"

Angelica nodded and looked at the boy with concern. "Word travels fast at Hogwarts." She realized she might have judged him a little harshly. She sighed and rubbed a hand through her short spotted hair. "I wouldn't be doing my job as your Prefect if I didn't help teach you to defend yourself." She then looked between the two humans and smirked. "I'm going to teach you two how to duel."

Collin blanched as he thought about what that would entail. It took him a moment to clear those aside. "But we don't know any dueling spells…" He pointed out, realizing that she meant small time stuff, not what he was used to…

Angelica smirked. "Gryffindor keeps a secret dueling book hidden in the Artefact Room. It will teach you various spells, potions, and techniques." She started walking off. "Meet me again after you've learned a dueling spell, and I'll teach you everything else you need to know."


	13. Chapter 13: Seering is Believing

Collin and Rowan had no trouble making it to the Artefact room. Rowan was already excited. "They say untold treasures lie within the Artefact Room."

Collin chuckled and held his nose jokingly. "Along with untold odours…" To be fair, the room did stink. "Come now, let's hurry up and find that dueling book…"

Rowan grimaced as the smaller already started looking. "I'll fight the urge to catalogue every single amazing thing in this room. I'll probably fail, but at least I'm good at multitasking."

While the boys started searching, Collin started hearing things, particularly someone calling for him. "Collin…"

The short boy in question turned to his taller companion with a questioning gaze. "What?"

Rowan looked back with equal confusion, "What, what?"

"…you didn't say my name, did you…?" Collin deadpanned as he looked at his friend.

"No, I didn't."

Collin frowned. "Great…. Now I'm hearing voices…"

"It wasn't me…"

Collin shook his head. "It must have been my imagination. Let's just find that book…" Something about the voice had seemed feminine anyway. Maybe a vague memory he only partially remembered from his infancy? Maybe a distorted voice of his aunt chiding him in his head for searching for a fighting answer? Who knows.

The boys kept looking for what had to be an hour before Rowan found it. "I found the book!"

"Brilliant!" Collin responded with glee as he crawled out of an area at the top of one of the shelves.

"Now we can learn a dueling spell, so our Prefect can train us to stand up to Merula!"

Collin had only just managed to catch himself as his head started to pound. "AHH!"

Rowan helped him down, the boy's vision going grey. "Collin! Are you alright?"

Collin managed to start picking himself up again. "I…I saw something… in my mind…" He groaned as Rowan helped him sit up against a shelf. Collin tried to concentrate. He opened his blue eyes and looked up towards Rowan as his friend tried to help him. "A… a walking suit of armor. A staircase shrouded in mist… Ice encasing Hogwarts…" He started to get panicky. "spreading faster and faster…"

"Ice?" Rowan asked with concern.

Collin nodded, fear shaking him. "And… I heard that voice again… it… it said, 'The ice is here. The **_Vault_** will open.'…" Collin bit his lip wondering what his friend would think, what he should think…

Rowan, seeing his friend's fear, placed a hand on his shoulder. "I still don't think you're **_mad_** , but I wonder if your sister saw these same visions…"

"L…let's just get back to the Gryffindor Common Room,… and… get some sleep." Collin wiped his brow.

Rowan helped him to their dorm. "Get some rest while I read through this dueling book. We'll catch up later."

"R…right.." Collin stuttered before going to his bed. Rowan went down to the common room and sat in front of the fireplace to read. Occasionally though, he'd pause his reading, something he never did before, just to check on his smaller friend. He'd find Collin dead to the world, unaware of how alive his mind truly was.


	14. Chapter 14:New Spells and New Friends

The next morning, Collin met up with Rowan in the great hall. Rowan was still pouring over the book while eating some toast. Collin sighed and served himself up some eggs and bacon from the magical serving dishes.

"How are you, Collin?" Rowan managed to ask with barely a glance. "Have you had any more visions since we left the artefact room?"

Collin sighed and shook his head. "No. I would tell someone, but with Merula going on about my sister, people already think I'm mad."

Rowan nodded. "I know you're the one who deserves to be upset," the taller boy looked across the table at his shorter companion. "But these visions have me rattled. Do you mind if we catch our breath for a bit?"

Collin smiled gratefully at his friend. "That… sounds like a brilliant idea, Rowan."

The two kept talking over breakfast. "Your vision really has me worried, Collin… have you had visions before?"

Collin shrugged. "I've heard voices before." He had no reason to hide it from his friend.

"Visions can be dangerous…"

Collin sighed as he looked at his friend with a slightly desperate look. "That's… why I need your help…"

Rowan smirked. "Thanks for making me feel better, Collin. I'm just worried about you…"

Collin smiled back. "I'm sure you'll feel better after I answer all of your questions…"

Rowan nodded and proceeded to his next question; "How can I help?"

"With Knowledge and Friendship, as cheesy as that sounds." Collin chuckled, already feeling a touch better.

"Well I feel a lot better now." Rowan chuckled back. "There are just a couple of things that are still worrying me."

Collin nodded. He tried to look confident. "I'll answer all of your questions, Rowan. You'll see there's no reason to worry."

Rowan nodded as he asked his next question. "Do you think it was a warning?"

Collin thought about it. "Or a clue… maybe both…"

Rowan nodded. "Thanks, Collin. We'll work out what your vision means together."

"T… thank you, Rowan. That means a lot to me." Collin felt touched that his friend would be willing to help him out with such a thing. "I feel better about my visions, but I'm still anxious about this duel…" Collin sighed. He didn't like fighting. He knew how to avoid fights, not how to actually fight. He preferred fixing people, not breaking them.

Rowan showed the book to Collin. "Thankfully, the dueling book we found details everything you need to know to defeat Merula."

"That's great, Rowan!" Collin's eyes lit up. "What did you find?"

"So many things! What do you want this new spell to do?"

Collin thought about it briefly before responding with "Have many uses… I want to beat Merula in a duel, but I'm not a dueller. Teach me a spell I can use for other things besides dueling.

Rowan frowned as he looked through the book once more. "Hmm… I'll keep reading until I find the perfect spell. I can teach it to you in the Gryffindor Common Room later on one of our breaks."

"Thanks, Rowan."

Rowan then smirked. "Want to hear something amazing that the book has to offer?"

"Yes!"

"Professor Flitwick is a champion dueller! You should ask him to give you some tips, or even teach you a cool dueling spell."

"Whoa!" Tiny Flitwick, who was barely taller than Collin, was a dueller? And a Champion one at that? "Thanks so much, Rowan. I'll learn all of this as fast as I can before Merula has the chance to bully anyone else… or at least… I'll try…"

Later that night, Collin went out to the courtyard to look at the stars when he found Professor Flitwick of all people! He took a deep breath and went over to the professor.

"Um… excuse me, Professor Flitwick? I have a question for you…"

Flitwick turned in surprise to see the short boy. It was strange to have a human shorter than him for once. Even most of the Mobian children, save for certain species of rodents, were taller than him. "What can I do for you, Mr. Hedgehog?" He asked with a kind smile.

Collin sighed and scratched his head. "Professor… is it true you were a dueling champion before you taught at Hogwarts?"

Flitwick looked amused. He didn't find many of his students looking for that information. "It's true. I can **_Stupefy_** and **_Protego_** with the best of them. I have a shelf full of trophies to boot." He chuckled.

Collin nodded, still nervous. "I don't really… want to ask this, but… do you think you could teach me some of what you know?"

Flitwick looked at the boy with concern. "The Hogwarts curriculum includes lessons on many defensive spells, Mr. Hedgehog."

Collin nodded with regret on his face. "I… I need some advanced instruction, Professor… please…"

"Hmm." Collin didn't even seem to want to know how to fight, so why ask for the skills? "Tell me… why do you want to duel?"

Collin sighed. "To defend myself and my friends… I've been attacked before. I want to be able to defend myself."

Flitwick nodded, a little impressed with the eleven year old's answer. "That's understandable, but Duelling should always be your last resort."

Collin nodded, a little hope in his eyes. "Teach me, Professor. I won't let you down." Flitwick thought about it for a moment, still seeming hesitant. "Please. I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important, sir."

Flitwick sighed as he looked over the young human. "I was afraid things might be difficult for you here at Hogwarts given your birth family's reputation… strange how all of them are focusing on your sister… she was the most mild of the group…" He muttered absently before returning his attention to his student. He sighed and then looked determined. "I may be able to teach you the finest self-defence spell I know…" Collin's eyes lit up. "I will teach you one spell. The dueller's most essential spell. **_Expelliarmus._** It is intended to disarm your opponent without causing them injury…"

"Brilliant!" Collin was overjoyed. He hated the idea of hurting others.

"Then let's begin." Flitwick taught him the correct position and movements. Within the next hour, Collin had mastered the spell, but Flitwick wanted to be sure. "Good, you have the hang of it. Now, let's see you cast the disarming charm on me."

Collin nodded and took up his position. "Yes sir."

Flitwick had seen the boy in many forms over the few weeks he had been at the school, but the confidence he radiated when working on mastering something to defend others as he was trying for here, was his favorite. With a quick swish of his wand, a shout of the spell, the professor had lost his wand, only for it to end up in the hands of the young man in front of him. Collin walked over and handed it back.

Flitwick smiled proudly at the prodigy. "You've done it! You truly do have a gift with charms."

Collin blushed. "Thank you so much, Professor Flitwick. This will be a huge help."

Flitwick nodded before thinking on something. "You might also consider practicing with Mr. Copper. He's hesitant, but very skilled."

Collin nodded with a grin. "I will. I've always thought that Ben is better at Charms than he lets on."

Flitwick then got serious again. "Promise me that you will only duel if you have no other choice, Mr. Hedgehog."

Collin swore up and down he would. "I promise, sir. I promise I'll only duel to defend myself, Professor."

Flitwick smiled kindly at the shorter fellow. "Good. I believe you have great potential, and I would hate to see you ruin it by breaking school rules. Duelling is not allowed on school grounds without permission, Mr. Hedgehog. If you use this spell for anything except self-defence, I will be forced to recommend your expulsion."

"You won't have that worry from me, sir." Collin smiled weakly as they went in. 'I don't want to disappoint Professor Flitwick, but if I don't duel Merula, she'll never stop bullying everyone… Thankfully, **_Expelliarmus_** should be exactly what I need to win our duel… I wish this didn't happen to me…'

The next morning, Collin met up with Ben in the Great Hall. Ben looked worried as the two sat down for breakfast. "What's wrong, Ben? You look worried." Collin grimaced. "I mean, you look more worried than usual…"

Ben sighed, his depressed face showing heavily. "I don't think I can do this anymore, Collin."

Collin raised a brow. "What do you mean?"

"I don't belong at Hogwarts. I thought I would be able to adjust, but the longer I'm here, the more I find to be afraid of."

Collin sighed in relief. "Is that all?" He chuckled weakly.

"How do you stay so brave?"

"I…" He wanted to admit to being afraid, but he didn't feel that would help much in this case. "I stay active. I get afraid sometimes too, but I try to distract myself by exploring the castle, and meeting new people."

Ben grimaced. "Do you think hiding in a cupboard would also work?"

Collin shook his head with a small smile. "No. You'll be fine, Ben. Let's just talk about what's worrying you, and I'll do my best to make you feel better."

Ben nodded. "Okay… but I'll just tell you some of what's worrying me, so that we aren't here until year-end exams." Collin nodded in agreement. "I don't think I belong at Hogwarts, Collin… There's so much to be afraid of…"

"Everyone feels afraid sometimes." Collin pointed out.

"Our friends aren't scared…" He pointed out Penny Haywood and Rowan Khanna who were talking farther away in the hall. The Hufflepuff hadn't talked to Collin much yet, but he would know her soon enough.

"We'll keep each other safe." Collin said firmly.

Ben smirked. Collin was a small human, even smaller than most of the Mobian students. Yet, he was trying to help him be brave. "Thanks, Collin. I feel a bit better, but I'm still not sure I belong at Hogwarts…"

"Everyone feels like that sometimes, Ben. Some more than others even…" He thought about himself with this statement before shaking his head. "Let's just talk more…"

"Why was I put in Gryffindor?"

"Oh that's easy! You're a lot braver than you know. It takes courage to admit to fear."

"Really? Huh… I feel a lot better, but I'm still wondering if I should go back home…"

"Come now, Ben. Let's just keep talking. You'll see that we need you at Hogwarts."

"Heh, need me? I belong in the muggle world."

"I belong in a grave…" Collin muttered before clearing his throat. "You belong at Hogwarts, Ben."

Ben thought about it and smiled. "Thanks, Collin. I don't know how I'd make it through Hogwarts without you."

Collin blinked in surprise. "Um… you'd do fine." He hadn't expected that compliment.

"Thank you, Collin. I'm feeling much better about surviving my time at Hogwarts. I'm going to try what you suggested, and try to distract myself with an activity when I'm feeling afraid." Ben smiled.

Collin smiled back. "That's great, Ben. You're one of my best friends here, and… and I know I'll need your help to find out what really happened to my sister…"

"I'll do my best to help however I can, Collin. If nothing else, I know all the best hiding places."

Collin nodded, feeling reassured. "Yeah, that's actually more helpful than you think it is." He himself knew the good use of a hiding place.

After breakfast, Collin went down to the dungeons for his Potions Class. Students were all talking about how he had screwed up his first potion, and today was a new one. He was determined to show what he was capable of though. Collin made his way over to Professor Snape. "Is it true we're learning how to brew the Wiggenweld Potion today, Professor Snape?" He asked as he brought out his notebook to check his notes on the syllabus.

"It is." Snape sneered, though he looked cool as a cucumber. "When you inevitably fail to brew it correctly, take responsibility this time instead of blaming Merula Snyde."

Collin nodded slowly before daring to speak up again. "I've heard that Wiggenweld Potions can be useful in duels…"

"I sincerely hope you plan on breaking school rules by dueling, Hedgehog. It will give me the excuse I need to finally be rid of you." Collin's gaze sharpened as he looked at the taller man. Snape didn't care. "Now, take your seat, and shut your mouth." Collin nodded and did as told. Snape then addressed the class. "Today you will learn to brew the Wiggenweld Potion. It is a powerful healing potion that can be used to heal injuries, or reverse the effects of a Sleeping Draught." Collin wrote all this down, careful to get all the details. He loved studying medical books back home, and this was close. "Be especially careful with the Sloth Brain Mucus."

Merula snickered. "Yeah, Kintobor. You don't have any brains to spare."

Collin looked at her. "You know… I think you'd get along well with my human uncle. He loves insulting me as much as you do." Merula blinked in shock as Collin just started on his potion notes.

"The lesson starts." Snape announced. We will begin with a demonstration of brewing the Wiggenweld Potion. Come up to my table." Collin made his way over to the stool that was set up for him while the other students stood close to watch the potion master's ease with highly dangerous chemicals. If they weren't witches and wizards, they'd accuse him of magic. Collin made a note to find out who invented the Wiggenweld Potion later. "Keep track of all the ingredients, students…"

After the demonstration, Rowan needed help finding Salamander Blood from the ingredients stock. It took them only a few minutes to find it with Collin's proficiency in **_Lumos_** helping them to search the dark corners of the dungeon. The two sat down afterwards to check that they had everything. Collin kept pouring over his book as he went, making sure to add things as instructed. His mind calculating how much to add in certain cases where exact measuring tools weren't allowed.

Halfway through, Snape called them to weigh their Lionfish spines on a scale he had, one by one. When Collin came up, he didn't need to ask how to use the scale, unlike most. He simply had an idea for it. He zeroed it out, and then placed the spines on it, getting the measurements he needed.

After they were done, Snape told his class that he expected perfection once more on this. Collin took a deep breath and finished up his potion, taking care how much to stir it and how often. "Almost finished brewing my first Wiggenweld Potion. Now to stir anticlockwise…" He muttered to himself as he did his task.

"Wow, Collin! Your potion looks perfect." Rowan exclaimed.

Collin grimaced. "Don't jinx me again, heh."

Snape came over and looked. "It appears to be passable." Then he turned to Merula's, who's looked exactly the same. "Miss Snyde's concoction, however, is flawless." Collin shrugged. So what if Merula was better at Potions. He was fine so long as he did well enough to get a good grade.

"Thank you, Professor Snape." Merula beamed. Collin actually let out a small smirk. She was genuinely happy with her work. He couldn't fault her there.

Collin looked up at Snape. "What can I do to get better at Potions, Professor?"

Snape looked down at the boy with indifference. "Can you suddenly become someone who isn't entirely incompetent, Hedgehog? That would be an excellent start."

Collin took the insult with ease and sighed. "No, but I'm hoping to become a little bit better by emulating your mastery, Professor Snape. I'll never match your skill and knowledge, but I'm hoping to at least become a middling student by copying a true Potions Master like you." He truly did feel this way, which was unfortunate, as the boy had yet to realize he was indeed a good student, and quite good at potions as well.

Snape however was secretly pleased with the response, though a little confused and surprisingly concerned. "I appreciate your determination in spite of being a hopeless failure, Hedgehog." Then he surprised the trio at the table. "Ten points to Gryffindor." Collin looked up at him with shock.

Merula just rolled her eyes though and tried to get the attention back on her. "Professor Snape recognizes perfection when he sees it." She then sneered. "And everyone recognizes that you're an embarrassment, Kintobor." Collin shrugged, irritating the brunette even more.

Rowan looked at his friend apologetically as Snape walked off. "I'm sorry, Collin. Snape and Merula really do have it out for you."

Collin let out a huff of a laugh. "I hate to say this, after everything we've been through, but I am honestly not worried about Snape and Merula. I'm actually concerned about my sister for some reason, and those accursed Cursed Vaults…"

"Huh…" Rowan smirked. "I'll meet you back in the Common Room. I have just the spell you asked for."

"Thanks…" Collin quickly cleaned up his equipment and rushed off to the Common Room at the top of the tower.

When they got in, Rowan quickly explained he had found a tickling charm, **_Rictusempra!_**

Collin scratched his head, unsure of how this would work out. "Tickling charm… I said I wanted a spell that would be useful for more than dueling…"

Rowan was quick to point out that "There are literally hundreds of documented cases where witches and wizards saved lives by tickling someone." That appealed to the young wizard quickly enough, as he liked the idea of becoming a healer of sorts.

"Alright, let's go then."

Rowan quickly started teaching Collin the charm as best as he could. They were both surprised when it had taken a mere hour to get it done. Collin had learned quite quickly.

Rowan smiled. "I think you've learned the Tickling Charm, Collin! Try it out."

"On you?" Collin asked with concern.

Rowan smiled proudly. "I might not be the strongest, but tree farmers are resilient folk. I will withstand your hilarious spell. Don't you think you should test the spell before dueling Merula?"

Collin frowned. "Not on you. I'd rather not test dueling spells on my friends…"

"That's what friends are for, Collin." Rowan smirked, trying to convince his friend. "Hit me with your best shot!"

"Alright… best brace yourself for intense tickling, I suppose." Collin sighed and got into position. " ** _Rictusempra!_** " Rowan was instantly put into a laughing fit. He had even fallen onto the floor and couldn't stop. "Oh, scrap metal! I'm so sorry, Rowan!"

Between his laughter, Rowan managed a reply. "Don't be… HA-HA.. sorry. It'll e worth it to see the … HA-HA… look on Merula's face when you… HA-HA… use it on her in a duel!"


	15. Chapter 15: Time to Duel

Collin walked into the charms classroom and took his seat. The class was going to review Lumos today, as some of the students hadn't managed it yet. Flitwick took his stance on top of a stack of books. "Good day, class! Today we will be reviewing the wand-lighting charm, Lumos. Hopefully you'll find this class as enlightening as the spell itself." Collin snickered at the pun, to which the teacher seemed happy about. "Let's take a moment to review what we previously learned about Lumos." The class studied for a good portion of the class before Flitwick spoke up again. "Who can tell me the answer to this question…" The class all turned to him. "What language is the root of many spells?"

Collin was the first to raise his hand, unsurprisingly. Rowan was quickly behind him. Flitwick called upon Collin. "Much like with science chemicals and such for muggles, the Latin language is the root of many spell terms and phrases."

"Very good, Mr. Hedgehog!" Flitwick was pleased. "Now, let's take a moment to review some key points related to the wand-lighting charm."

The students went back to their studies with no problem. Those that were muggle-born were happy that Collin had pointed out a similarity between their lives and the magical world's lives. After a few more minutes of independent studying, Flitwick announced that it was time for practical applications.

"Show me how far you've come with Lumos since our first lesson." Each of the students were required to demonstrate their **_Lumos_** spell. When it got to Collin's turn, he took a deep breathe, and cast the spell, only for it to accidently light up the entire room. "A bit too strong, there, Mr. Hedgehog."

"S…sorry Sir…." Collin mumbled as he waited for the spell to finish.

Flitwick noticed that while Collin was a brilliant student, he had low self-confidence. "Collin Hedgehog, would you kindly help tutor the other students in the Wand-Lighting Charm?"

Collin blinked in surprise, but agreed. He and a few of the students who were having trouble went to the back area near a chalkboard, where Collin helped them out by breaking it down and slowing each step down for them. After a bit, he demonstrated, though managed to make it more milder so that it didn't blind the entire room again. It was just right this time.

When class ended, Collin and Rowan made their way over to the courtyard where Angelica was waiting for them. Angelica smiled at the two boys as they arrived. "There you two are. Did you learn a dueling spell?"

Collin nodded slowly. "Rictusempra and Expelliarmus…"

Angelica smiled. "The ticking charm **_and_** the disarming charm? I'm impressed. The best way to teach you both how to duel is to have you duel each other."

Collin looked upset. "I don't want to hurt Rowan… I don't want to hurt anyone…"

"I don't want to get hurt…" Rowan grimaced in agreement.

Angelica looked at them kindly. "I don't want either of you to get hurt, but that's part of learning how to duel. Now, let's get started…"

Collin sighed as he and Rowan got into the dueling positions. The bowed, as was proper, before the two of them got into fighting stances. Collin's was more firm and confident looking than Rowan's, despite that he wanted nothing to do with fighting. Collin chose an aggressive stance to counter Rowan's sneaky one. Whatever spell that Rowan had been about to do was quickly stopped by an **_"Expelliarmus!_** " being shouted by Collin. Rowan's wand flew out of his hand, but he managed to catch it, much to his own surprise. Collin just looked relieved that he hadn't hurt his friend. He had however startled the boy and their prefect. He chose to be defensive this time while Rowan did another try at the sneaky stance. Rowan threw a potion, which distracted Collin, spraying a light acid on him. "What was that?"

"I…um… it was my failed Wiggenweld…"

Collin merely nodded as he tried for his own sneaky spell. This time he cast " ** _Rictusempra!"_** Rowan was quickly reduced to a giggling fit, but eventually managed to control himself quicker than the first time. Collin went defensive again and threw his own vial of bad potion, causing Angelica to call it.

"What was that?" Angelica asked as they came upon the remnants of the vial that Collin had thrown.

He grimaced. "Um… I might know what makes Gobstones stink so much, hehe." He then turned to Rowan with concern. "Are you all right, Rowan? I didn't hurt you badly, did I?"

Rowan just chuckled. "I'll be fine, Collin. I'll happily trade a few bruises for learning how to duel."

Angelica was proud. "Well done. Now you'll both be able to defend yourselves, and properly represent Gryffindor."

Collin nodded. "And if I keep training, I'll be able to put an end to Merula's bullying…" he muttered to himself.

The next day, Collin received a note at breakfast from Merula, challenging him to a fight. He had Charms first, but after that, during the break, he had a feeling he'd have no choice. He sighed as he went to Flitwick's class to learn a new spell.

"Today we will be learning **_Wingardium Leviosa._** The levitation charm is used to make objects fly or levitate, and is an excellent test of your wand control and patience." Flitwick smiled at top of his large stack of books while the students sat. "Let's begin. One of the wizard's most rudimentary skills is levitation, or the ability to make objects fly. Don't forget the nice wrist movements we've been practicing. Swish and flick." Flitwick brought out his own wand. "Allow me to demonstrate. And remember – **_Wingardium Leviosa!_** " He called out as he made a large feather in front of him float in the air. Collin looked at it with child like wonder, as did some of the muggle born students. Charles and the wizards of Knothole didn't usually use magic, save for emergencies or if it was helpful. They liked the idea of being able to do things without magic in case they needed to hide again. Each of the students had their own feather in front of them, but Flitwick took his students over to the chalkboard. "Over here is a list of how many things you can levitate, and you should practice this. It will be very important." Between Collin and Rowan, their quills were flying across their journals so quick it was almost impossible to tell how they were doing it! After that, the students were sent to their desks to study the incantation and wand wave from their books. Some time nearing the end of class, Flitwick stood in the center of the room. "Proper stance and posture are essential to casting charms. Watch me." He showed his casting stance to the students; how to hold the wand, how to stand, and how to waive it properly for the spell in question. Collin took note of every motion and stance, and when Rowan peeked over into his notebook, he was surprised to find Collin was actually drawing out each stance and movement as the teacher repeated it over and over for them all.

In the end, the students were each called upon to show what they could do. Collin calmed himself down and concentrated on how high he wanted the feather to fly, and that he **_only_** wanted the feather to fly. He soon had the feather flying above his head, much to the approval of his teacher, and his own relief. He had mastered the levitation spell.

Now he had to deal with Merula…

Collin knew he didn't want to start a fight. Hell, he wanted nothing to do with fighting at all. He concentrated on checking his shield that he always had on him. 'I… need you to go away for now… I… I'll be fine…' He willed it. As soon as he did that, he felt a shudder run down his spine. His shield was gone… for now… it always returned eventually though, so he wasn't afraid.

Collin made it to the courtyard and saw a group gathered. He spotted Rowan and went over. "What's going on, Rowan?" He saw Ben was in the center of the circle with Merula, and he looked petrified.

Rowan was anxious as well as concerned. "Merula is threatening Ben Copper! He keeps trying to walk away, but she won't let him."

"You're an embarrassment to everyone in our year!" Merula snapped at the muggle born lion cub.

Tears were streaming down his face. "Just leave me alone!" He roared back, wanting out.

"Disgusting mudbloods like you shouldn't even be allowed in Hogwarts!" Collin's eyes flared. He concentrated on his shield, knowing it never went far and willed it to protect Ben. "Leave the magic to real witches and wizards."

Collin stepped forward. "It will be okay, Merula." He muttered as he stood in front of Ben.

"What are you talking about, you little freak?"

Collin took a deep breath and just continued talking calmly, as though he knew the truth of the girl's temper tantrum. "I'm sure your parents will eventually be released from Azkaban." Everyone's eyes widened as they looked at him. His brown spiky hair rustling in the wind. "Either way, just because they chose evil, doesn't mean you have to be evil too. I certainly didn't…" He muttered the last sentence, but his words were still heard.

Merula stomped her feet, her purple eyes blazing with anger. "Who told you about my parents?"

Truthfully, Collin had known for years, not that he'd ever tell his dad that he had found the newspapers with the names of the prisoners of Azkaban who were Death-Eaters. "A friend…" He said calmly. "You should try getting a friend of your own. You might not be so miserable." He stood in front of Ben, though smaller, in a protective stance.

"You never learn, do you, Kintobor?"

"Name's Hedgehog for a reason, dear. I do learn. Do you?"

Merula growled as Ben scurried to the side of what looked to be a duel. "Why don't you be more like your mad sister, and go missing?"

Collin gave a grimace. "Tried that once, someone found me… I'm better off now. Besides, I'm afraid you're the person everyone is wishing would just go away for the moment."

"Make me, Hedgehog."

Collin took a deep breath. "I'll duel you if I have to…"

Merula stomped her feet. "Try it. You'll lose again like the loser you are."

This time tears were coming from Collin, much to the group's surprise. "I won't let you hurt anyone else…"

Merula quickly broke out her wand and cast a spell. **_"Flipendo!"_**

Collin was knocked to the ground, and due to his small height, quite harshly too. He looked up with a slightly bloody nose, bruises on his elbows, and sadness in his eyes, though it looked more like pity.

"Wrong again, Kintobor."

Collin merely sighed and stood up as their classmates gathered in a circle. "I don't like doing this, Merula. Last chance."

"No." Merula cast another spell, causing him distraction, but he quickly got over it.

"Then… you leave me no choice." He used his wand and cast **_"Rictusempra!_** " with no true heart behind it. It still did it's affect and caused her to go into a laughing fit for a minute. Collin was about to walk away with that when he noticed her about to cast another spell at him. He didn't even have time to think before his own voice called his next spell; **_"Expelliarmus!_** " successfully disarming the girl.

"How'd you learn that spell already? NO FAIR!" She called out in shock.

Collin's hand slid to his side as tears fell from his face. Rowan was too impressed to notice. "Wow! That was amazing, Collin!"

"You can't be better than me!" Merula screeched, causing Collin to look at her with teary eyes and a face that said he was scared. "No one can be better than me!"

Collin wiped some of the blood from her first spell away and stood as tall as he could. "I beat you, Merula." He was bitter about it. "Now, apologize to Ben Copper, and promise to stop bullying everyone."

Merula growled. "I'll never apologize to you losers and Mudbloods!" Collin didn't want to fight anymore. He just closed his eyes and awaited a punishment from the two teachers that were walking up and taking places behind Merula. "I'm Merula Snyde! Fourth generation Slytherin! The greatest witch at Hogwarts! I do what I want when I want! I run this school! I…"Snape cleared his throat at that time. Merula jolted and backed away from him. "P…Professor Snape!"

Collin just looked more downcast, expecting to be expelled. Snape had warned him, as had Flitwick… he had broken his promise to not duel… to follow rules… "Professor Snape, I…"

Snape snapped at him first, despite looking like the worst off of the two. "I suspect this is your fault, Hedgehog. Are you aware of Hogwarts' policy on unauthorized dueling?"

Collin nodded slowly. He knew what was coming, nothing could save him now. He was such a disappointment to everyone… "Y…yes, Professor…" He really was a Kintobor at heart, wasn't he…

Flitwick then spoke up. "Did you cast the first spell in this duel, Mr. Hedgehog?"

Collin looked up at Professor Flitwick with confusion. What did it matter if he cast the first spell? He participated in it, that was all there was too it, wasn't there? "N…no… Merula hit me with **_Flipendo_** first…" He rubbed his elbow. Being that he was in his normal attire instead of his uniform now, they could see some of his scrapes that he had from years ago, which were faded, but more importantly, they could see the scrapes he had from the fight, and the blood from his nose.

Flitwick nodded and looked up to his co-worker. "Miss Snyde cast the first spell, Professor Snape. Mr. Hedgehog was only defending himself."

Snape looked down at the smaller professor with disapproval. "And I wonder where he learned the disarming charm." Collin blushed. They had seen his last move… how much had they truly seen? It wasn't a long duel anyway though. Snape then turned towards Collin once more. "Clean yourself up, and see me in the West Towers to face the consequences of your actions, Hedgehog. TONIGHT." Collin nodded solemnly, wondering what was going to happen now.

Collin cleaned himself up and then headed to a nearby area just outside the castle. It had all sorts of things nearby, so Collin just went to the Grasslands. He was surprised to find Hagrid was there. "Ah, Collin… what's wrong?"

Collin wiped away his tears to not worry the friendly half-giant. "N…nothing… what's up, Hagrid?"

"Oh, I'm just taking care of the magical creatures around here. There's quite a few after all. Would yeh like ter help?"

Collin didn't have the heart to tell him he might be expelled that night, so he simply nodded with a weak smile. "Sure…"

Hagrid introduced him to a Niffler. "Here, feed him some of this."

Collin knelt down on the ground and held his hand out with food, a gentle smile upon his face. "Here ya go…" The Niffler looked at it, sniffed Collin's hand, and then quickly swiped the food.

"Good job! Yeh could be a Magizoologist!"

"Heh, maybe…" He smiled as the Niffler kept eyeing him. "I'd love to meet more magical creatures."

"I was hopin' you'd say that. We'll need teh be careful…" Hagrid smirked as he looked down at the Niffler that was trying to stare down Collin. "Some o' these creatures are dangerous."

Collin thought about it for a moment before laughing. "That happens to be a quality I share apparently…" He laughed bitterly.

"Hehe, I recon it's no more so than huntin' for Cursed Vaults." Collin blushed. Did the staff already know? "Besides, once you spend as much time carin' fer a creature as I have, yeh'll get close enough that they'll be comfortable showin' their affection." Hagrid looked down at the tiny human. "I think yeh'll find puttin' in the work teh build trust with a creature teh be very rewardin'."

"I… I think your right."

"Good. Why don't yeh go look for some food in the Artefact room? I've seen Kettleburn store some food in there for the creatures."

"Right… thanks…" It was a distraction from what had just happened, and was no doubt going to happen at least.

Collin made his way into the Artefact room and started his search. It didn't take him long to find some food. He then made his way back to Hagrid and his new Niffler. He gave the Niffler some more food and it started to clap so to speak, even doing a little dance. Collin felt a little better about it. If he didn't get expelled, he'd at least have a new friend.

On his way up to face the music, he found a Ms. Penny Haywood, a clever witch of their year in Hufflepuff was waiting for him. "Hello, Collin Hedgehog."

Collin blushed, having only had a few classes with her. She never really payed attention to him before though. "You… know who I am?"

"Does that surprise you?" She asked with a smile.

Collin nodded. "Yeah… I mean… you're Penny Haywood. You're the most popular girl in our year, and I'm… well I'm me… I'm not popular…" He started fiddling with his uniform, as he had placed it back on before coming up the stairs.

"I disagree, Collin. Everyone is talking about the hero who was brave enough to stand up to the tyranny of Merula Snyde. Not to mention all the rumors surrounding your sister…" Collin face palmed.

"Did you want something?" He asked now slightly irritated.

Penny just kept smiling a real genuine smile. "I just wanted to say thank you." Collin looked at her with confusion. "Hogwarts is supposed to be fun, but Merula was making it miserable for everyone. I especially appreciate how you used your wits to make Merula stop bullying Ben Copper."

Collin sighed, happy that she had commented on his wits rather than skills with a wand. "Well… someone had to do something…"

"I agree, but only you were brave enough. I hope Professor Snape doesn't punish you for your bravery." Collin shrugged but smirked. Bravery was a Gryffindor trait. "Let me know if I can ever help you with anything, Collin. I know the gossip around Hogwarts, and I'm pretty good with potions if I say so myself."

Collin let out his own small smile. "I will. Thank you, Penny."

"Thank you, Collin. I'll see you around." She at least was confident that Snape wasn't going to kill him. Collin sighed as the blonde walked away. She was nice.

He then made his way to where Merula and Snape were waiting. Snape noticed him with his usual sneer. "Now that Mr. Hedgehog is here, I can discuss your punishment. Expulsion seems to be the most logical option." Collin agreed, and hung his head, waiting for the word to be given.

Merula immediately got defensive. "I had nothing to do with it, Professor. I only defended myself when this loser attacked me!" She lied, putting on her sweetest and most innocent face.

Snape shook his head, looking at the girl with a sour expression. "Everyone saw you cast the first spell, Miss Snyde. This, however, does not excuse Hedgehog's behavior." Collin sighed as he listened to the lecture. "Since you arrived, you have fought in the corridor, made a mess of my classroom, and dueled on school grounds. This, after the damage your sister did to Hogwarts." This was where Collin didn't care anymore. Everyone here was comparing him to someone who had been missing for over a decade now! "Why shouldn't you receive the harshest punishment for your actions, Hedgehog?"

Collin looked at the professor with confusion at his question. Why? "I… I did it to protect my friends… I stopped Merula from bullying me and my friends… is… is that so wrong?" He asked, not blubbering as he had been earlier, but stuttering none the less.

Snape snapped at him. "Attacking a student with your wand is against school rules. You quite literally did do something wrong. Twenty points from Gryffindor." Collin blinked. "As I said, expulsion is the logical punishment for dueling on school grounds. Unfortunately, our Headmaster is illogical, and believes that expulsion is _unfair_ in this case." Collin blinked again, the surprise evident on his face. "If either of you are ever caught dueling on school grounds again, I can assure you that you will not be so fortunate." At that point, the caretaker of the school, Mr. Filch showed up. He was an old man with long gray hair that was balding in the center of his scalp, with a shadow of a beard. "What is it, Mr. Filch?"

"Professor Snape, you must come with me right away. It's about the… vaults." Collin's eyes widened as he looked at the caretaker with shock.

Snape snapped back at the two students. "Return to your common rooms."

As the two teachers walked away, Merula smirked deviously, having pretty much gotten off scot free. "They must be talking about the cursed vaults!" She went after them.

Collin looked at her as though she was crazy. "Why does Merula care about the Cursed Vaults? Doesn't she think that they drive people mad? I'd better follow them…" Collin snuck over quickly and quietly, wondering what the hubbub was about. He hid behind Merula with no problem, but she noticed him.

"Get out of here!" She hissed.

"Shh! You'll get us both caught, woman. Who is Snape talking to?" Collin had yet to meet Mr. Filch yet.

"You're such an idiot. That's the caretaker, Mr. Filch. He wanders the corridors trying to catch students breaking school rules."

Collin leaned forward, trying to hear better. "Are they talking about the Cursed Vaults?"

"I can't tell because you won't shut up." Merula hissed again.

Snape held his usual face as he talked to the Caretaker. "Who else knows about this?"

"Only me and Mrs. Norris saw the ice, sir." Ms. Norris was a cat in his arms that had red eyes that seemed to see everything. "Was going to report the incident to the Headmaster, I was."

Snape nodded. "I will inform Professor Dumbledore. This may have to do with the Kintobor situation."

Filch then asked a dumb question that made Collin want to face palm. "Is it true that the vaults are filled with gold and powerful prophecies and artefacts from before Hogwarts existed? And that's why the Kintobor girl lost her mind trying to find them?"

Snape snapped at him. "Don't worry about what's **_inside_** the vaults. Worry about keeping everyone out. Lock this door, and keep it guarded."

Collin actually felt stupid and asked Merula a question. "What the blazes is the **_Kintobor_** Situation?" He felt bitter just saying that name.

Merula sneered. "Who cares? This is another clue to the Cursed Vaults."

Collin looked and saw that the teachers had left the hall through the other side's door. Then he looked at the witch in front of him. "You think the Cursed Vaults are real? And you're trying to find them? You always call my sister mad for trying to do that, you hypocrite!"

"I'm not a hippogriff!"

"Hyp-o-crite! It means someone who says bad things about something and then turns around and does just that." Collin deadpanned.

Merula rolled her eyes. "Even if I cared to explain myself to an idiot, I wouldn't do it here, and risk getting caught by the two meanest people at Hogwarts." For once, Merula had a point. With that, she left.

Collin sighed and went back to the dorms. He had to tell Rowan. Unfortunately, Rowan wasn't there by the time he got back. Rowan had apparently fallen asleep studying in the library again. Collin didn't' see him until Charms the next morning. They couldn't talk there, that was for certain! In Charms, they reviewed Wingardium Leviosa again. Collin just counted his lucky stars he hadn't been expelled yet. Collin helped the other students, quickly proving to be an adept teacher's assistant before going to the Great Hall.

He found Rowan quickly enough. Collin sighed in relief as he saw his friend. "Rowan!" Rowan looked up from his books and smiled back at Collin. "You alright? I was worried there when Merula hit you with the Knockback Jinx."

Rowan touched his friend's head gently. "You sure you're okay? You were the one who was hit with the jinx."

Collin paused and then gave out a weak laugh. "Oh…yeah… Well I'm still glad you're okay." Then he sat down and got serious. "You aren't going to believe what happened…"

Rowan chuckled. "I can't even believe you're here, Collin. Snape and Flitwick looked so angry after you dueled Merula." Collin looked downcast again. "Thanks again for stopping her from bullying all of us. You're a hero."

Collin shook his head. "I don't feel like a hero. In fact, I think I might be cursed…"

"What do you mean?"

Collin sighed and explained. "I followed Snape and Mr. Filch to a corridor. They mentioned ice and vaults…"

Rowan's eyes widened. "Just like your vision…"

Collin then looked bitter. "They said it had something to do with **_The Kintobor Situation…_** "

Rowan then frowned. "I don't understand, and I pride myself on understanding things…"

"I don't understand either… but… I'm hoping we can work it out together…" Rowan nodded. Collin smiled again. "I'll tell you everything that happened…"

"I always want to help you, Collin, but I'm worried about Filch and Snape…" Rowan muttered as he bit into his sandwich. "What if we get caught?"

Collin's eyes seemed to sharpen. "We won't. We'll be prepared."

Rowan was surprised, but continued with his next question. "I'm worried about your vision…"

"We'll work it out together…" He said hopingly.

Rowan nodded with a smirk. "I feel a little better, but there are still so many things that could go wrong…"

"Everything will be fine. Just let me explain my plan…"

"What about Snape?"

"We'll try to avoid him…"

Rowan nodded. "I'm feeling a lot better about this, but there are still a couple of things that have me worried…"

"I'll answer all of your questions, Rowan. Everything will work out…"

"What about the cursed vaults?"

Collin sighed. "We'll have to break the curse, I suppose." Collin was a bit bitter about that.

"I'm still not sure, Collin…"

Collin looked at him with pleading eyes. "I need your help, Rowan."

Rowan sighed and nodded. "You're right, Collin. I'll help you investigate that corridor."

"Thank you…" Collin smiled a small smile. He had hope.

"What do you think it all means?"

"I'm not sure, but it has something to do with me, the Cursed Vaults, and possibly my sister. Though why is beyond me!" He sighed again. "I have to investigate the Upstairs corridor."

"You mean **_we_** have to investigate the Upstairs Corridor. Let's head there tomorrow night after everyone goes to sleep."

"Why tomorrow night?"

"I… need time to finish up a paper." Collin chuckled.

"I understand. I need to finish up as well, and tomorrow we're supposed to be learning a new spell that might help us; Nox."

"OH, yeah, we should wait for that."

"Then it's decided."

The two smirked and shook hands. They had a plan.


	16. Chapter 16: New Spells and New Dangers

Collin went into Charms class, eager to find out what exactly the Nox Spell could do to help him in the situations he regrettably knew he'd find himself in. Flitwick stood on his pile of books as the class piled in and started to explain. "The opposite of Lumos is Nox." Collin's eyes widened as he realized what the spell was. "This spell is the subject of today's lesson." Collin knew his Lumos tended to get out of hand sometimes, so this would help. "If you need to extinguish your wand in a pinch, Nox is the way to do it." Flitwick brought out his wand, lit it, and then looked to the class. "Allow me to demonstrate… ** _NOX!_** " The wand instantly dimmed, much to Collin's delight. He knew he'd need that spell. "Nox is the incantation for the wand- ** _extinguishing_** charm. Remember to focus on your pronunciations. In Charms, you have no room for error!" Flitwick then brought a group of the class over to the chalk board. "Many people misunderstand what the wand-extinguishing charm does. Read the board for the correct answer." The board had many things on it. When the groups switched, Collin went to look over notes in his book before they had to cast the spell. "I believe you're ready to make an attempt." Flitwick said after a few minutes, nearing the end of class. The man was like clockwork. "Try casting Nox." Each student tried to do it for several minutes.

When it got to Collin's turn, he first cast Lumos so that he had something to extinguish. Then he cast Nox as his spell was accidently blinding people again. He was nervous. " ** _Nox."_** He concentrated on only extinguishing his wand's light. He sighed in relief as it was the only light to go out.

"Good control, Mr. Hedgehog." Flitwick nodded before continuing on to his other students. Collin sighed in relief as he started to pack up. He had flying next.

Collin made his way down the long stairs, racing against Rowan and his other classmates; some into the little race the short human did, others just walking along. Collin smirked as they reached a certain part of the stairs and jumped up only to slide down them like he was surfing. He was lucky no teachers were there to see the short human slide down the grand stair case, taking dangerous jumps as the stairs changed, and somehow managing to save himself while keeping all of his supplies for classes on him. He beat Rowan and Ben by only a couple of minutes as he waited for them just outside the main entrance of the castle before the three ran off towards the Training Grounds. The trio had taken to racing to classes together, Ben usually being slowest unless they were late. They had started doing it one day after Collin had fallen asleep studying and had woke up with minutes to get from one end of the castle to another. Not only had he somehow managed to just barely make it to class on time, but he had surprised all of his classmates, who now wanted to know his speed, and how he had managed to do it. He had no real idea himself though, so the group sometimes just raced to see if they could beat him to the next class. If any of the teachers knew about it, they said nothing, as the entire first year class of Gryffindor always made it to their class with time to spare now.

Madam Hooch started them on broom maintenance so that they would be mounting decent brooms. Collin went to his station with Merula, Rowan, and Penny. Hooch then gave them another lecture about how certain things could kill them while flying. Collin wrote everything as usual in his notes. She then asked a question about Quidditch. A boy from Ravenclaw answered the question. Hooch then got onto a broom to demonstrate proper techniques. The students lined up to summon their brooms shortly afterwards. Collin summoned his with no problem, as did a few of his classmates now.

Eventually, Madam Hooch called out to the class. "The time has come to climb aboard your broom. Stay focused and uninjured." Each of the students mounted their brooms, ready to try and lift themselves off the ground, if only temporarily. Collin gave an encouraging smile to Ben, hoping to keep the lion calm and give him confidence. Ben looked a little better. He managed to mount it properly, but only managed the bare minimum to get off the ground. Collin, being one of the smallest of the group, had a little trouble mounting a broom that was about twice his height. He tucked it under him, and closed his eyes as he slowly removed his legs. He waited a few seconds before looking down, relieved he hadn't fallen yet. After a quick nod from Madam Hooch, he dismounted, happy to be on the ground again.

After curfew, the two boys met in the hallway. "This is where Snape and Filch were talking…" Collin whispered.

"I'm starting to have second thoughts, Collin. If Snape told Filch to stay on guard, he'll be back soon." Rowan gulped. "The stories I've heard about how he punishes misbehaving students make Snape look like a pleasant Hufflepuff." Rowan looked at Collin with concern. "Are you sure we should be searching this corridor?"

Collin thought about it, all the consequences, his friend's feelings… Collin sighed. "You're right… Let's go, Rowan." Suddenly, he heard a sound. "Wait, did you hear something at the end of the corridor?" He looked at the other end with concern.

"Based on my research, there are at least twenty-one different entities that could be roaming the corridors at night, and every one of them is potentially terrifying. What should we do, Collin?"

Collin looked a little defeated. "Let's… just search this place as fast as we can, and hope whatever it is isn't coming this way." The boys quickly searched the entire corridor, as well as the door. Collin frowned. "We aren't going to be able to work out what's really going on unless we get inside that room."

Rowan adjusted his glasses as he thought about their predicament. "An impenetrable lock, a mysterious door, and the constant threat of being caught by Filch…" He looked at his small friend with a grimace. "Getting into that room seems impossible, Collin."

Collin rolled his eyes at that word. "I'll find a way… but I'll still need your help." He grimaced.

"I'm always here to help, but…"

Collin's eyes widened at a sound and he pulled the taller boy into the shadows. "Shh! Someone is coming!"

Rowan's eyes also went wide as he realized what it was. "Not someone. Some **_thing…_** " It was Mrs. Norris! Filch's cat!

Collin didn't see the danger of the feline just yet. "Oh… it's just a cat?"

Rowan was already pulling the smaller away from the red eyed feline. "Not just a cat, Collin. That's Mrs. Norris. She alerts Filch when students are misbehaving on school grounds!" The tabby hissed at the two boys before running off.

Collin frowned. "Do you think she's going to get Filch?"

"I don't know, but we'd better get somewhere safe like the common room. RUN!" Rowan started the run, but Collin, while smaller, was just as fast and caught up to him. It had been an exciting night.


	17. Chapter 17: Hagrid's Birthday

A few weeks later, Professor Dumbledore had sent a letter to young Collin. Collin was to meet him in the courtyard to address something important. Collin met with the headmaster in the afternoon after his classes, and sending off his weekly letter to his dad. "Thank you for meeting me, Collin."

Collin nodded, slightly nervous. "Of course, Professor Dumbledore. You said you wanted to discuss something important?"

"Something **_very important_** , Collin. A situation I don't believe I can solve **_without your help_** …" Collin was highly confused. He was a mere first year, and as his prefect liked to point out, he was trouble. What kind of help would he be to the headmaster?

"Er… what is it, Professor?"

Dumbledore smiled. "It's Hagrid's birthday!" Collin blinked in surprise. "Actually, it's not his birthday yet, but it will be very soon. I would like your help organizing a proper surprise party."

Collin scratched his head in confusion. "That's amazing, but why me?"

Dumbledore smiled kindly at the boy. "I've been impressed with your enthusiasm and creativity, and Hagrid as grown quite fond of you." Collin was surprised once more. He only talked to the half-giant a few times, and that was mostly when he was learning to take care of Sickle, the Niffler he was given care over. Dumbledore then looked concerned. "He recently lost one of his favorite pets, and hasn't been his typical, cheerful self…" The headmaster sighed. "He gives so much of himself, and does so much to help everyone at Hogwarts…" His smile returned. "The least we can do is give Hagrid a fantastic party to show how much we appreciate him." He raised a brow with a smirk. "What do you think Hagrid most would like to have at his birthday party?"

Collin didn't need to think long. "Hagrid loves caring for magical creatures. I'd…" the boy chuckled. "I'd probably get him another rare one that he isn't supposed to have…" He grimaced sheepishly. "I… probably also shouldn't have said that." He looked embarrassed.

Dumbledore just kept smiling and nodded. "I am well aware of Hagrid's love for exotic, and sometimes illegal, creatures." His eyes lit up as he thought of something. "You're right that nothing would make him happier than a new creature. I'll put in a request with an old friend… Let's discuss the finer details, so that we can give our friend Hagrid the best possible party…" The two of them sat down and spent almost an hour planning it. Dumbledore was pleasantly surprised by the young boy's insight into the half-giant's likes and dislikes for the party. "You have excellent ideas, Collin. I knew you would be the best person to help organize Hagrid's special day. Hagrid will no doubt receive many fantastic gifts…" He then winked. "And I have a feeling that you will also receive something very special for your efforts."

Collin was a little confused about that, but shrugged it off. "Thank you, Professor. There's a lot to do, and not much time… I'll ask Rowan to help me work out the best birthday party plan…"

Collin met up with Rowan after dinner in the common room. Rowan was already reading a book when Collin filled him in on the plans.

"Thanks for your help, Rowan. I want to make Hagrid's party as good as it can be, but we don't have much time…"

Rowan smiled. "Don't worry, Collin. The only think I like more than learning is planning." Collin chuckled at that. "We'll need to allocate our time and resources in the most efficient manner in order to achieve our celebratory goals."

"Hehe, agreed."

"PLANNING PARTY! WOOOOOOOO!" Collin blinked, startled by his friend's sudden enthusiasm… Rowan really liked planning.

After discussing things for a while, Collin started to yawn. It was getting late. "Thanks for your help, Rowan. If I follow this plan, I should be able to prepare a brilliant birthday party for Hagrid."

Rowan smiled. "My pleasure, Collin. I'll **_plan_** to see you there."

Collin snickered while other students in the room groaned. "That was a good one. You should probably save your best **_bad_** jokes for the party."

"Good thinking, Collin. This will be my first party, so I want to make a good impression… What should I wear to Hagrid's birthday party?"

"Remember that scarf I suggested you get in Diagon Alley, when we first met?"

"Good choice, Collin. I love that scarf, but I can never find the right occasion to wear it."

"Thanks again, Rowan. Tomorrow I have to go and invite Madam Hooch to Hagrid's birthday party…"

"See you there, Collin. I can't wait to celebrate Hagrid, and stuff my face with cake!"

The next day, Collin had a light breakfast before rushing off to join his classmates out on the training grounds for their flying class. He figured it was the perfect time to ask Madam Hooch.

"Excuse me, Madam Hooch?" Collin asked as he came up to the tall white haired witch with golden eyes.

"What is it, Mr. Hedgehog? Class is about to begin."

Collin got a little nervous, but swallowed it. "I wanted to talk to you about Hagrid's birthday."

She looked at him unimpressed. "Are you serious?"

"Um… yes… I mean, I'm not as serious as you, but…" He stumbled over his words, looking as nervous as Ben Copper.

"This can wait until after class." She then turned to the others. "By your brooms, everyone! Remember to remain focused at all times, or you will surely fall to your death!"

The class went through the usual maintenance of their brooms, commanding them to hand, and mounting them. Hooch was satisfied at the least. When the class had been dismissed, Collin came up to her once more, determined to help Hagrid have a good party by inviting the other staff that he so admired.

"Can we talk about Hagrid's party now?"

Hooch looked at the tiny student with confusion. "Why are you even inviting me to Hagrid's birthday party?"

Collin smirked. "Hagrid really respect you and the other teachers. It would mean the world to him if you all came to his party." Collin explained.

"I'm too busy to attend anyone's party at this time…"

Collin felt a little down, but understood. Teachers were busy after all. "Oh… alright then…"

"I do, however, appreciate Hagrid's dedication to Hogwarts…" Collin looked up with hope. "I also appreciate you willing to help out and go out of your way for someone. Five points to Gryffindor." Collin grimaced. He wasn't in it for the points. "Unfortunately, I won't be able to attend Hagrid's party until I treat all of these brooms… I need to cast the charm to cure reluctant reversers on each one to improve its ability to reverse."

Collin's eyes lit up. "I can help you."

"Do you know the spell? I'm already late for a Quidditch match and don't have time to show you."

Collin shook his head before another idea came to mind. "No, but I'll ask Professor Flitwick to teach me! Don't reserve yourself for other parties until I get back!" Collin grinned as he ran off.

Hooch gave out a small chuckle as the boy ran off. "I'll do my best, Mr. Hedgehog."

Collin sent a letter to Professor Flitwick, who quickly responded, agreeing to meet with him. Collin met up with him after lunch. "Thank you for meeting me, Professor Flitwick."

"Of course, Mr. Hedgehog. What can I do for you?"

"I was hoping you could teach me the charm to cure reluctant reversers." Collin explained.

Flitwick smirked. "Madam Hooch is putting you to work, is she?"

"Yes, sir. She needs my help to treat all of the brooms."

Flitwick put a hand to his chin as he thought about it. "Very well…" He summoned a broom to a desk nearby before smiling. "I'm very much looking forward to seeing how Madam Hooch behaves at a birthday party…" Collin took notes throughout the entire "lesson" and made sure to ask a few questions on what he didn't understand. "That should do it. Please cast the Charm to Cure reluctant reversers…" Collin nodded and made his way to the broom with his wand. He cast it calm as you like, and the broom bristled. Flitwick seemed happy. "Well done, Mr. Hedgehog. I believe you're ready to help Madam Hooch, and get this party started…" Collin nodded and made his way down to the grounds where Madam Hooch was awaiting him.

"Have you learned the Charm to Cure Reluctant Reversers?"

Collin nodded. "Yes, Professor Flitwick taught me. I'm ready to help you treat all of these brooms, so that you can go to Hagrid's birthday party."

Hooch smirked. "Very well, Mr. Hedgehog. Let's get to work…" The two of them spent three hours doing what usually took Madam Hooch three days. Collin was as quick to learn the spell, as he was to use it. After all but one broom was done, Madam Hooch looked at the young first year with a bit of pride. "Good work. There appears to only be one more broom to treat…" Collin nodded and cast the spell. "Thank you, Mr. Hedgehog. Why don't you handle the broom to make sure it works properly?" Collin nodded, summoning the broom as requested. "Well done. These brooms appear ready to reverse."

"Does… that mean you'll go to Hagrid's birthday party?" Collin asked hopefully.

"I suppose. I must admit, I don't have very much experience in this area…" She scratched the back of her head. "Any idea for how I should behave at the party?"

Collin smirked. "You should be yourself. People like you and respect you for who you are."

Madam Hooch smiled back. "Thank you, Mr. Hedgehog. And thank you again for your help with the brooms. Five points to Gryffindor."

Collin's blush returned. He didn't feel like he needed to earn points for that, but was grateful nonetheless, as it would keep his prefect off of his back. "Thanks for agreeing to go to Hagrid's birthday party, Madam Hooch. I'm sure you'll be the most difficult one to convince."

"Really?" She asked with surprise. "Have you already talked to Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall?"

Collin tensed at that. "N…no… but I will…" He ran off, trying to figure out why he had forgotten about his own Head of House and the Potion Master. Both of them were harder to deal with on a given day.

Collin made his way into the courtyard, and found himself surprised when Merula of all people asked him to deal with two other Gryffindors! He nearly fainted from shock, she asked him for something rather than ordered! Shaking off his shock, he went to talk to his Head of House that was standing in the back of the Courtyard, looking over the situation.

"Excuse me, Professor McGonagall?"

"Not now, Mr. Hedgehog. I'm supervising the courtyard to ensure no one uses magic outside of class." This was a serious rule.

Collin nodded as he bit his lip. "I won't take too much of your time. I just wanted to see if you could come to Hagrid's birthday party later."

McGonagall sighed. "I would love to, but I haven't the time to get Hagrid a present…"

Collin thought about it and then had an idea. "What if… what if I supervised the Courtyard for you?"

McGonagall looked at him skeptically. "I suppose that would give me enough time to take care of other matters, and buy Hagrid a proper gift…" She hid a smirk. "Keep an eye on everyone, particularly those two Gryffindors…" She indicated to the duo that seemed to be giving death glares. Collin had a feeling he could simply stop spells they might know with his shield, but he preferred not to let many, if any, know he could shield himself against spells without a wand. He didn't even know why, and he only knew the shield to work on certain spells and such. "Thank you. I will return soon to evaluate your performance…" It was another test for him, and Collin was determined to pass it.

Collin sighed as he looked at the two Gryffindors in question. "It does look like those two Gryffindors are about to fight…"

Collin made his way over as quietly as possible, being the smallest in the courtyard. "Haw many points have you earned for Gryffindor?!" A sixth year asked with a growl. He was a human, and the first year he was growling at was ironically a wolf.

"I've earned more points than anyone in our house." The first year defended himself. Collin rolled his eyes, still not seeing the obsession with house points.

"Watch your mouth, first-year." The elder boy snapped. He didn't like being outdone it seemed. "If we don't win the house cup, I'll make sure everyone in Gryffindor takes turns dunking your head into this fountain." He indicated to the fountain in the courtyard. Collin didn't like bullies or threats.

The first year had some guts though. "Does threatening someone smaller than you make you feel better about being so stupid?"

Collin decided to step in now. "Whoa! Hey! Let's keep calm. There's no need to fight…" Collin pleaded.

"Shut up, cursed kid. This is none of your business." The sixth year snapped.

Collin's eyes narrowed. "We're in the same house. It's my business if you threaten another classmate just because you decided to be rude. It's also my business because McGonagall asked me to watch you two."

"What are you going to do about it?" The sixth year sneered.

Collin took a deep breath, calming himself down first. "I'm going to ask you to leave before someone gets hurt…" His voice was steel for once, unlike with his duel with Merula.

The sixth year whipped out his wand and cast a spell. **_"Depulso!_** "

Collin found himself knocked back to the ground quite a ways, much to the surprise of those in the courtyard. Even Merula's eyes were wide with shock. Collin picked himself up and wiped his now bloody nose.

"Too late." The sixth-year sneered.

Collin's eyes were a harsh steel blue now. "This young pup is right. You are stupid…" He threw a vial of stink potion at the other boy, distracting him before throwing a Wiggenweld potion that had failed, resulting in a small knock back.

"That didn't count…" The sixth year whined pathetically. He then walked away.

Collin shook off the rest of his anger and grimaced. "He's supposed to graduate when?"

"Hehe, Thanks, Collin Hedgehog. You really gave a beating to that sixth year." The first year complimented.

Collin sighed as he heard another voice comment on the "fight". "You did indeed."

"My apologies, Professor McGonagall. I didn't intend to get into a fight." He was just a magnet for trouble it seemed.

"Explain your behavior…"

"I…was just trying to defend this first year from a bully…"

"Did you give this first year an opportunity to defend himself?"

Collin turned his head and sighed. "No…"

"If you did, you would have found that he is more than capable. Five points from Gryffindor." Collin just nodded numbly.

After the other student left, Collin looked up at her with a slightly concerned face. "…will you still go to Hagrid's party?"

"I will. I actually ran into the headmaster, and I am quite excited after hearing what he has planned…"

Collin looked confused. "Really? What is he planning?"

"He asked me to keep it a secret. And he asked me to tell you to invite Mr. Filch…"

Collin nodded and made his way to the Great Hall where Mr. Filch usually was around this time.

"Oh, and Mr. Hedgehog?" Collin paused but looked at his teacher. "While I don't condone dueling on school grounds, you did well to protect that first-year Gryffindor." Collin nodded and continued off.

Collin found Mr. Filch exactly where he expected him to be. Collin made his way up to the cranky old man. "Excuse me, Mr. Filch…"

"What do you want?" He snapped. Next to him was Mrs. Norris, who hissed at him.

Collin didn't flinch or anything, much to the older man's surprise. "I want to see if you and Mrs. Norris will come to Hagrid's surprise Birthday Party."

Filch was suspicious. "You don't want to invite me to any party. You probably just want to trick me by filling my invitation with stink pellets."

"It's a verbal invite." Collin pointed out.

"By filling my drink with Bulbadox powder?"

"I don't think that's edible." Collin was confused. Did this guy get pranked that often?

"By training a red cap to sit inside the cake until I try to take a slice, at which point it hops out and bludgeons my skull?"

"First, what the heck is a Red Cap? Second; What the hell? I'm just seriously asking you to come to Hagrid's party." Collin scowled.

"Hmm… why should me and Mrs. Norris go to Hagrid's birthday party?"

"The more the merrier. It will make Hagrid happy to have a lot of people at his party." Collin pointed out with a smile.

"I hate Hagrid." Filch snapped, though not as much venom as it could have been.

Collin frowned and looked at him with a slight glare. "Nobody hates Hagrid. Not really anyway."

"Well… I certainly don't like him… Tell me who all is gonna be at this party. I need to know if I should bring my shackles…" Collin merely chuckled and started to explain who was going to be at the party and how Filch shouldn't bring shackles. It took Collin an hour, and it was getting late, but he eventually convinced him to come. "Fine. You can tell Dumbledore that I'll go to Hagrid's stupid birthday party…"

"That's great!" Collin smiled. He then looked to Mrs. Norris. "Are you sure you don't want to get Mrs. Norris a little party hat?"

Filch yelled at that. "NO CAT HATS!"

Collin just snickered and made his way to his room. The next morning, he received a letter from Dumbledore. He made his way down to the training grounds. He found Hagrid and Fang the dog waiting with Professor Dumbledore.

"Good morning, Professor. Good morning, Hagrid." He then petted the dog that was only a tad shorter than him. "Hehe, and a good morning to you as well, Fang."

"Thank you for coming, Collin." Dumbledore smiled. "Hagrid and I have urgent business in Hogsmeade, and you have a critical role to play."

Collin raised a brow. "Of course, Professor. What do you need me to do?"

"Babysit Fang."

Collin was surprised. Hagrid then put in his own two cents. "He can be a bit wimpy , but Fang's a good boy, Collin. He won' give yeh any trouble."

Collin just laughed. It was Saturday anyway, so he had no classes. "Sure, no problem. How long will you be gone?" The party was only a few days away.

Dumbledore decided to be cryptic. "As long as it takes." He smiled.

Collin just chuckled again. "Okay…"

"Thanks fer yer help, Collin." Hagrid then turned to Fang. "Be a good boy, Fang! I'll miss yeh!" The dog barked happily to show it's love for its master.

As the two walked away, Collin had to figure out how to keep the dog busy. He decided he'd kill two birds with one stone and practice his magic. "Let's get some practice in. Watch this, Fang…" Fang sat down and watched the young wizard as he pulled out his wand. **_"Lumos!_** " The light glowed at the end of his wand, thankfully at a normal lighting. "Pretty cool, right? It's called the wand-lighting charm!" Fang seemed unimpressed. Collin rubbed the back of his head with a grimace. "Not impressed, huh? I suppose you've seen that one before…" Collin then sat down next to the dog. "Maybe we should just have a chat until Dumbledore and Hagrid get back…"

Collin talked to the dog as though it was a person, and Fang responded as though he was listening. Collin mostly talked about his classes and trying to get people to quit comparing him to his sister. After a few hours, Professor Dumbledore and Hagrid had returned. "I see you two are enjoying yourselves…"

Hagrid smiled at the dog. "I missed yeh!"

Collin just smirked and backed off as Fang jumped at Hagrid's heel. Dumbledore looked over to Collin while Hagrid was busy. "Hagrid and I have completed our tasks, so you should continue to inform others of the event we discussed."

Collin nodded. "Who should I talk to next?"

Dumbledore smirked. "Professor Snape. You may want to bring him a gift to improve your chances of success…"

Collin nodded and sent word out to Penny Haywood, who was somehow on Snape's good list. Penny immediately responded that she had an idea. They met up with Ben Copper in the Artefact Room.

"Thanks for your help, guys." Collin said with a grin. He liked having friends he could depend on, and these two were some of the best. "I'm hoping that if I bring Snape some rare potion ingredients, he'll agree to come to Hagrid's party."

"Happy to help, Collin." Penny smiled warmly. "I know what's in the potions storerooms, so I have a good idea of what Snape will find useful."

Ben also seemed a little more chipper than usual. "I'm just happy that I'm not all alone in this room like usual… It's a pre-party!"

Collin snickered while Penny was unsure of the attitude. "The skulls and cobwebs sort of ruin the party atmosphere…"

Collin added in his own opinion. "Not to mention the odor." He was still grinning though. He liked Ben's enthusiasm when it showed.

Ben now seemed a little down. "Well, I never said it was a **_good_** pre-party…"

"Let's search for ingredients Snape might need." Collin pointed out as he started looking in the hard to reach areas. Hagrid's birthday party is starting soon…" After five minutes, the group found a whole slew of ingredients. "Wow! Great work, everyone! We found dead blowflies, dried nettles, fluxweed, bicorn horn, and boomslang skin… how the hell did all of this end up in here?" They all shrugged. "Hopefully some of these will make Snape happy…"

Ben seemed confused. "It's strange the things that make Snape happy…"

Penny even added her own thoughts. "Are we sure that anything makes Snape happy?"

Collin thought about it. "I don't really need him to be happy, I just need him to hate me a little less, for Hagrid's sake so the party will go as planned."

Penny started giggling. "Good luck, Collin. I really hope it works, so we can party with Professor Snape…"

Collin nodded and headed down to his Potions class, as it was almost time for class to start anyway. Professor Snape was in his room, waiting for students to pile in. "Excuse me, Professor Snape."

"How many more years will I be forced to tolerate your presence, Hedgehog?"

Collin looked down at his feet, "I… I'm a first year… so… six more… sir…"

"Well, let's hope you don't live that long." Collin held back a biting retort about death, knowing that he hadn't even revealed some things to his dad or friends.

"I wanted to talk to you about Hagrid's birthday party…" He said as calmly as he could.

"I cannot imagine a more doltish sentence."

Collin raised a brow. "Sir, I am more than aware that you know of my biological uncle, so I also know that's a lie." He murmured so that only the two of them could hear.

Snape raised a brow in turn. "Sit down, Hedgehog. We will revisit this idiotic topic after class… and if you mention **_him_** again…"

"I'll do it against my will and under the Imperius curse. Trust me, I am familiar with these things…" Collin and Professor Snape both nodded to each other; one wondering the knowledge of the other, and the second wondering how much patience must be spared upon the first.

Collin sat down at his table with four Slytherins and Rowan; as usual. They were going over the basics of potions so Collin decided to learn more about the other three Slytherins at the table, having already been familiarized with Merula. Ismelda Murk was a dark green serpent Mobian who liked death and destruction; truly the perfect candidate for being a Death Eater. Liz Tuttle was extremely in love with animals, and had become a bit of a vegan. She was very kind and helpful for a Slytherin, and happened to be a tortoise. Barnaby Lee was a human who was not the smartest on the block, but Collin could tell he was nice if you got to know him. He didn't have much time to know any of the Slytherins at the moment due to trying to keep up in class, but that didn't deter him. He'd know them before he graduated, of that he was sure.

After the class was dismissed, Collin tried again. "Can we talk about Hagrid's birthday party, Professor Snape?"

Snape rolled his eyes. "You have that look about you that says you'll never leave unless we do, so I suppose."

Collin nodded. "I know we don't always get along, and you and Hagrid aren't the best of friends, but we'd like you to come." He then pulled out the small bags of potion ingredients. "I even brought you some potion ingredients as a peace offering…" He handed them to the professor who towered over him.

Snape looked in one of the bags with a raised brow. "I have been needing more Bicorn Horn…" he then looked over to Collin once more. "Why should I attend Hagrid's birthday party?"

Collin didn't back down as he looked up at Snape, mustering up his courage. "You need to get out of this dark classroom, and socialize more. You might not always be in such a bad mood. My dad had to force me out of my own lab back home a lot when I was younger, so I know how you feel about it being a safe place to work without disturbance."

"Socializing is for fools."

Collin was just glad that the professor hadn't snapped at him. "So, I guess you won't be coming to the party?"

Snape looked at the boy, as though trying to read something. "I will attend this ridiculous event, Hedgehog." Collin's eyes lit up as his ears twitched. Had he heard right?

"You will?"

"I have important business to discuss with Dumbledore, and he has been increasingly difficult to find."

Collin nodded. "Of course, sir. That's great, Professor. After I get Hagrid's present, I'll see you at the party." Collin started off.

Snape merely rolled his eyes and started to put the new ingredients away. "I cannot wait." He muttered.

Collin was now starting to worry as he didn't have any idea on what to get Hagrid for his birthday! "Oh snap… I got everyone else, but I didn't get him anything…" He muttered as he went through one of the lower hallways.

"Excuse me, young man…" He looked up to see a kind looking old bear wearing a yellow coat with a green cape. He had a set of glasses on and was surrounded by three magical creatures. "Would you happen to be young Collin Hedgehog?"

"Er, yes, yes I am… and you are?"

"Amos Diggory, at your service, just call me Amos." Collin nodded. "Dumbledore has great things to say about you."

Collin blinked in surprise. "Thank you, sir… did Dumbledore ask you to bring these creatures?"

"He did indeed. An unorthodox request, but as I'm sure you well know, Professor Dumbledore is an unorthodox man." Collin merely nodded again. "I work for the department for the regulation and control of magical creatures, you see. This is just a small sampling of the amazing specimens I come across on a daily basis…" He indicated to the three creatures with him. "There's a fire crab…" a jeweled crab that looked part turtle and breathed fire… as well as farted it… "Beautiful creature with a very valuable shell, and a penchant for shooting fire from it's backside." The bear then turned to the smallest of the creatures. "The murtlap…" It jumped. "Not many know this, but the growth on its back can be pickled and eaten to improve one's resistance to…"

"Jinxes! Yes, they are quite impressive." Collin said with a smile.

"Very good." Amos was pleased. "And a porlock…" He indicated to the hooved creature on it's hind legs which also seemed part simian. "They protect horses and feed on grass."

"Let me guess, Dumbledore wants me to pick one of these creatures for Hagrid to look after?"

"He does indeed. Have a good look at them, and take your time. This is an important decision…"

Collin looked the three over and thought about how Hagrid lived and which one would work for him. "I think I've decided, Mr. Diggory… I mean, Amos."

"Excellent! Which one of these creatures would you like to give Hagrid for his birthday?"

"The Murtlap. It's perfect for Hagrid! It's useful, small, and it won't accidently burn his house down." Collin smiled.

"Excellent! I'll bring the others back to the office, and escort this Murlap to Hagrid's party."

"Thank you for your help, Amos."

"Thank you, Collin. I can't wait for the party, and I can't wait for you to meet my son, Cedric. He'll be a first-year when you're in your sixth!"

Collin smiled. "I'll keep an eye out for him when he shows up then." Collin nodded. "I look forward to meeting him."

"I'm sure you'll be impressed. Everyone is. I believe he's destined to be one of the greats." Collin felt happy and a touch jealous all at once, but he didn't show it. "Of course, I am a bit biased."

"Hehe, I'm sure you're right, Amos. I'll see you at Hagrid's party…"

"See you there, Collin. And keep an eye out for my boy!"

With that, Collin headed over to the Great Hall where the party was to be held. There were games, Bertie Bots every flavored beans in gift bags, students playing, teachers talking, and Hagrid looked quite happy with his new Murlap. Collin made his way in. As he came closer, he could swear he heard Snape mumbling about liking parties more if there weren't people there. He stifled a chuckle at that. Flitwick was wondering if they brought enough cake. Amos was just boasting about his boy, Cedric.

Hagrid's eyes lit up when he spotted the tiny first year. "I can' believe yeh threw me this wonderful birthday party, Collin!" Collin blushed. He didn't want full credit for it. "And yeh got me a Murtlap!"

Collin just grimaced and indicated to the other adults. "You can thank Headmaster Dumbledore and Amos Diggory for that."

Amos was hearing none of that though. "I simply provided the options. Collin is the one who made an excellent choice." Collin felt his face turn as red as his uniform.

"And yeh got so many people to come! Yeh even got Snape!" Hagrid was really happy about that.

"Regretfully." Snape said in his usual monotone.

Hagrid gave the tiny boy a quick hug. "Don' feel like yeh have to talk the me the whole time, Collin. Join the party! Have fun!"

Collin fell to the floor with a plop as Hagrid let go and chuckled. "Very well." He picked himself up and tried to mingle with the others, mostly staying to the side of the crowds while they had their fun. He was happy for them. Everything had turned out as it should for the party, and Collin was happy.

Later that night, Collin wrote to his dad to tell him all about the party and what had happened. The next morning, Collin found a parcel from Hagrid that contained an outfit that was similar to his own, but in Collin's size! There was a note with it;

 ** _"Dear Collin,_**

 ** _Thank yeh for the party. I had a great time! I hope yeh don' mind, but I got something special for ya. I used to wear this when I was a young' un and I thought it might fit ya. Had ta make it a tad smaller due to your size, but eh, it should fit still."_** Collin chuckled as he looked it over. It smelled of the forest and made him instantly think of home, as well as his early days. **_"Let me know if yeh like it. I'll see yeh around._**

 ** _Sincerely, Rubeus Hagrid"_**

Collin smiled and started to write a note to Hagrid telling him exactly what he thought of the very thoughtful gift. He then got dressed in that very outfit under his robes and started off, ready for his next day.


	18. Chapter 18:Herbicidal Knockback Jinxes

Collin made his way over to the Charms Classroom for his daily Charms lesson one day, only to find Professor Flitwick was waiting for him just outside the room. This was unusual and good cause for concern to the young boy. "Ah, there you are, Mr. Hedgehog." Flitwick looked a little concerned about something. "You are excused from today's lesson."

Collin's eyes widened. "Excused? Why?" He tried to go over what he could have done to get kicked out of class.

"Today's spell is the Knockback jinx. It is sometimes used in dueling, and can be incredibly painful to it's victim." Collin nodded slowly as he understood what the teacher was saying. The Knockback jinx was one of Merula's favorites, and he didn't particularly want to learn how to fight more anyway. "Given your history, I think it's best to not teach you another dueling spell at this time."

Collin nodded. "Y…You're right, Professor. I can't manage to stay out of trouble no matter how hard I try…" Collin sighed. "I'm going trying to focus on my studies…"

Much to his surprise, Flitwick's expression lit up. "Your humility and self-awareness lead me to believe that you may have learned from your mistake, Mr. Hedgehog." Flitwick then leaned in and whispered to the boy. "Not to mention, it might help you get out of trouble as well…" He then opened the door for the boy. "Please take your seat." Collin looked at the professor, confused, and received a nod. He then made his way to his seat. Flitwick returned to his tower of books. "Today we will be learning the **_Knockback Jinx_** – an excellent spell for pushing things out of the way! Let's begin…" He glanced at Collin and Rowan, both already having their journals and quills out to take notes. That was what he wanted from them. Good. "To properly cast Flipendo, you perform your wand movements perfectly. Nevertheless, casting this spell is dangerous. I have prepared a lecture on proper safety. Listen…" After the safety lecture, he asked the class what kind of spell Flipendo was. Rowan raised his hand and answered correctly by saying it was a jinx. Flitwick then split the class into two groups. "The angle of your **_Flipendo_** jinx is adjustable, come look." He pointed out to the white board for the first group. Collin made sure to add in his calculations for his own height difference from the other students. When the groups switched, Flitwick addressed both groups with the instructions he had given their previous groups. "You must stand addressing your target properly when casting Flipendo. Observe." He stood in the middle of the desks and showed his wand movements. Collin started to copy down move for move into his journal, his quill writing and drawing quite quickly. "Who thinks they can demonstrate this stance?" He looked around near the end of his demonstration. He spotted Collin who was finishing up his last sketch. "Collin Hedgehog!" Collin's head shot up. "Come join me in the aisle, please." He assisted Collin in his stance, and Collin took it from there, showing that he knew what to do. "Good." The class then gathered into one again. "Please review Flipendo. We will be practicing in a moment." Collin got out his book to study over more while. "Focus on your pronunciations. In Charms you have no room for error!" The students then got up, one at a time, to duel against a test dummy in the middle of the room in front of the class.

Collin's turn came up, and he looked at the test dummy nervously. He concentrated on his stance, and then looked at the tall, imposing figure made of metal. 'Just… imagine it's one of **_them_** …' He took a deep breath and cast his spell. " ** _Flipendo!_ " **The jinx knocked the test dummy back quite a few feet, but nothing so startling as it could have been.

Flitwick smiled at the end, as he made a final announcement. "Good work, everyone! Be careful when casting this spell, or you could be the one who gets knocked back!"

Rowan smirked as the boys cleaned up their supplies. "Nice work, Collin. Someday they'll write a book about your expertise in Charms, and I will read that book so many times, the pages will disintegrate." Collin couldn't help but laugh at that. "In the meantime, **_Flipendo_** will help us escape the locked room if we have to."

Collin grimaced. "And it will help us defend ourselves if there's anything dangerous inside. We just need to keep working on our plan…"

The two then made their way to the potions class where they were to suffer through another potion class, though Collin actually liked the class, and didn't mind the challenge of dealing with Professor Snape.

Collin took a deep breathe and made his way to the tall human in charge of the class. "Professor Snape," Snape turned towards the short human. "I just wanted to apologize again for dueling on school grounds, sir."

Snape raised a brow. "The only thing I care less about than you, is your apology, Hedgehog. Sit down." Collin nodded and returned to his seat.

Merula whispered over to him. "Have you told anyone about what Snape and Filch said in the corridor?"

Collin nodded. "Yes, I told Rowan. No one else though."

"You are such an idiot!" Merula hissed. Then she calmed down. "Thankfully, your little friend is useless, and won't ruin my chances of getting inside of that room."

Collin rolled his eyes. "Why are you after the Cursed Vaults?"

"It's none of your business."

"It is my business because, as everyone loves to point out, my sister was searching for those vaults." Collin looked at her carefully, analyzing her purple eyes. 'She wants to prove herself… she'll learn soon enough…'

"And she failed because you come from a family of failures." Collin raised a brow. Merula didn't know his biological family as well as she thought she did. "Now shut up, and pretend to study before Snape hears us talking about the vaults."

Snape called the group's attention. "Today you will learn to brew an Herbicide Potion. The lesson starts. You will create a potent Herbicide. Do not let one drop find its way to the Greenhouses. Watch closely." The students came over to the cauldron. Collin got on his usual stool and observed, taking his usual notes. One mistake brewing Herbicide Potion could have lasting consequences. Stay Focused!" The students were then required to weigh their potion ingredients. After the students went to their desks; Snape spoke again. "Add your ingredients like seeds to soil…" Then he smirked darkly. "Just don't touch the soil…" His face then went back to his normal neutral face that seemed disappointed in everything around him. Snape watched Collin as he put in his ingredients, being extra careful to not let anything blow up, or touch the liquid. He then announced that he would watch the students as they stirred to be sure they were doing it correctly. Shortly after, as the class neared it's end, Snape snapped once more. "Finish your potions quickly. I will not tolerate laziness."

Collin finished up his potion but somehow he had still noticed Merula had mis-counted for stirring. "You should stir it two more times."

"Excuse me?" Merula asked incredulously. She was good with potions, but even the best could miss something here and there.

Collin took a deep breathe and tried to explain. "Professor Snape said to stir the potion seven times, clockwise. I noticed that you only stirred it five times."

"You don't know what you're talking about." Merula snapped.

Snape came over at that moment. " ** _Shockingly_** , in this solitary instance, **_Hedgehog_** is correct." Collin blinked and looked up at him in shock. "Even a reckless, incompetent fool like you can become a middling wizard by following instructions, Hedgehog. Ten points to Gryffindor." Collin's eyes couldn't get any wider.

"T…Thank you, Professor Snape."

"Dismissed." The class then left the room.

Collin was the last to leave after cleaning up his area, as usual. "See you tomorrow, sir."

"Must I?"

Collin merely smirked as he left his potions professor. He really did like the class, even if the teacher didn't like him. He'd get on Snape's "Adequate" list if it was the last thing he did at Hogwarts.


	19. Chapter 19:Unlocking the Plan

p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Collin soon went back to his dorm to report to Angelica. She was waiting for him. "You wanted to see me?" The short human asked curiously. He couldn't have gotten into more trouble without knowing, could he?/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""Please tell me you did not lose Gryffindor another twenty house points, Collin?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"In truth, he had, but he got points more often then lost in the long run he knew. He sighed. "I'll find a way to get our House Points back."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""You had better. Everyone in Gryffindor is suffering for your poor decisions." Collin rolled his eyes./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""Yes, because the entire points system relies on one pint sized human and his points list. Got it."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Angelica wasn't listening again though. "You're ruining any chance we have of winning the house cup."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Collin sighed once more, knowing she wouldn't stop until she had the cup in hand at the end of the year. "What can I do to make it better?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Angelica gave him a hard look. "Go to class. Focus on your schoolwork. Do everything in your power to earn more House Points."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""Oh is that all?" He rolled his eyes, as that was already the plan./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""And I know this is very difficult for you, but please, stay out of trouble." … okay, that one was a bit tougher, but it wasn't like Collin went looking for trouble! It just… tended to find him./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""I… will try…"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""Do better than try! You have Potions Class and Charms Class tomorrow! Get to class on time and earn Gryffindor some House points!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Collin nodded and left to do his homework. The next morning, he found a note from Rowan as he got ready for the day./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""I can't believe I'm saying this, but you need to put down your books and talk to me about that locked room." It said in Rowan's writing. Collin went down to the Great Hall to see his friend at breakfast./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Rowan smirked. "There you are! I hear you've been busy excelling in class and earning house points for Gryffindor!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Collin smiled, happy someone appreciated his hard work. "I'm trying. You're the one who got me points in flying class though. Oh, and I still can't believe I got points in Potions for helping Merula out! Not only have people been helping me get house points, but I do believe I have a plan to get in the room Mrs. Norris is guarding." He grinned slyly./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""Brilliant! What's your plan?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""First, we need to get past Mrs. Norris. If we give her a sleeping draught, it will knock her out just long enough or us to get past her. Then we need a way to get inside the door. The unlocking charm, strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Alohomora/em/strong, should do the trick. I think Flitwick is teaching us that today. Third, we need the Knockback jinx, strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Flipendo/em/strong. It'll help us escape I we get trapped inside the room like with the Devil's Snare from our first week."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Rowan frowned as he thought on this. "If you ask Snape to help you brew a sleeping draught, he'll get suspicious…"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Collin just smiled. "He's a brilliant potion master, but he's not the only competent one with a cauldron. I'm going to ask Penny Haywood, the Hufflepuff."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""Penny Haywood?!" Rowan's eyes widened. "She's the most popular girl in our year, if not in all of Hogwarts!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""Is she now?" Collin raised a brow as though he didn't know. "She offered to help me if I ever needed anything, and she said she's pretty good with potions."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Rowan nodded. "She's being modest. If anyone in our year knows how to brew a sleeping draught, it's her. What about Filch?" Rowan asked, his worries catching back up to him./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Collin grinned deviously once more. "I was inspired by your love of research, and decided to do some o my own research on Filch. I think I can throw him off our trail. There is one more thing…"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""What?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Collin sighed. "Loathe as I am to admit it, I think we'll need a third person to pull this off. I don't want to endanger anyone, but I can't do this alone, and us together still wouldn't get it done."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""Who else do you want to bring?" Rowan asked curiously./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Collin didn't hesitate. "Ben Copper. I trust him as much as I trust you, and Flitwick says he's gifted in Charms. We're good, but for a teacher to admit someone is gifted means they have a good talent, and that will help."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Rowan nodded with a slight frown of concern. "I like Ben too, but, I mean… he's a… coward…"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Collin smiled. "I think he's braver than he knows, and if we give him a chance, he'll prove it."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Rowan still hadn't warmed up to the idea yet, but nodded. "Well, I suppose he is a Gryffindor, so he should be brave. I'll honestly be shocked if you can convince him to go, so… good luck, Collin. Just let me know when you're ready to execute the plan."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"The boys went off to Charms class after they were done with their breakfast. Flitwick was on his usual pile of books. "Welcome, everyone. Today you will learn the unlocking charm, strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Alohomora!/em/strong" Flitwick smirked. "It's the very best spell when a wizard forgets his keys." Then he paused and thought on that. "Come to think of it, with Alohomora, why would a wizard even need keys?" He shook his head. "A discussion for another day, I suppose. Wands up, everyone!" The class had sets of padlocks on their desks. "Alohomora is a spell that will open many doors for you. Let's begin with a demonstration of the unlocking charm. Watch me, students!" The professor then proceeded to demonstrate on a large lock in front of him. Collin, as usual drew out the wand movements while Rowan wrote all the instructions. "Moving on, I will now show you some tips for casting the unlocking charm." After a bit, he looked around the class. Collin already had his wand out and was concentrating on the lock. "Collin Hedgehog!" Collin's head shot up like a rocket. "Come join me in the aisle please. Just show the proper stance." Collin did so wordlessly before the group was split into two. Collin's group went over to the chalk board to study the spell effects. When the groups switched, Flitwick spoke up again. "Many young witches and wizards take liberties with pronouncing Alohomora. Make sure you get it right." Collin and Rowan cracked open their books once more to study the spell's pronunciation. Near the end of the class, Flitwick nodded. "I believe you all are ready to make the attempt. See if you can unlock the lock in front of you." The students got right to work on it./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Collin did the movement slowly, but with enough precision that the lock opened as he said "Alohomora."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Flitwick smiled as his class packed up. "Well done! You've successfully unlocked another piece of knowledge at Hogwarts!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Collin muttered under his breath as he packed up. "And I'm one step closer to unlocking that door…"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"After his later Potions class, Snape left the room, and Penny came in. "Well if it isn't the hero of Hogwarts…"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Collin shook his head. "I'm no hero… thank you for agreeing to help me brew a sleeping draught."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""My pleasure. People always come to me for gossip, so it's refreshing when someone recognizes my skill with potions. Why do you need me to help you brew a sleeping draught anyway?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Collin shrugged, sensing no real harm in telling her. "Mrs. Norris is guarding a locked room I want to enter, so I need her to take a little nap."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""Exciting! Don't worry, Collin. Your secret is safe with me."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""Where did Snape go anyway?" He started looking around a bit nervously./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Penny rolled her eyes. "We lost our defense against the Dark Arts Professor. Snape is campaigning to Dumbledore even though the position is cursed." She shook her head. "Rumor is, he's not going to get it."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Collin shook his own head. "I feel like I didn't learn anything at all in the Defense Against the Dark Arts class this year."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Penny smiled. "Well you're about to learn something about potions right now…" The two got started. Penny guided him through each step, carefully instructing him on how to create the desired potion. Soon the potion was done. Penny was quite proud of her student. "Impressive potioneering, Collin. That sleeping Draught could knock a Romanian Longhorn on its tail."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Collin grimaced. "I sincerely hope I don't run into dragons… but thank you, Penny. I owe you one."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""It's the least I can do for the hero who stopped Merula Snyde from bullying everyone." Collin just shook his head again. "Good luck, Collin." Penny continued. "I can't wait to hear what happens." With that, Collin left to find Ben Copper, the cowardly lion cub./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Collin found Ben in the great hall eating his meal. "Ah, Ben, there you are. Just the fellow I was looking for." He said with a smile at the young cub./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Ben smiled. "Oh, Collin. Nice to see one of the people I'm least uncomfortable to be around."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Collin grimaced. "I need your help."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Ben kept up his smile. "I owe you for saving me from Merula. As long as it isn't anything too dangerous…" That was when Ben grimaced./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""It's not too dangerous…" Collin was quick to try and calm his flighty friend. "We're… going to a forbidden corridor where we'll just have to sneak past Mrs. Norris before entering a mysterious locked door… that's all…"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Ben frowned. "You and I have very different definitions of dangerous…" He shook his head as he tried to understand. "Why do you want to get inside of the door?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Collin sighed. "It's a long story, Ben."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Ben looked at the small human with a serious gaze. "If you really want to convince me to go with you, you're going to have to tell me the whole thing…" Then he grimaced. "And calm my nerves…" Collin nodded. He could do that. "There's no chance I'll ever be brave enough to join you, but I suppose you can try…" Ben looked at Collin full of confusion. "Why me though?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""Because you're my friend, and you're gifted at Charms."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""What if we get caught?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""We won't, I promise. And if we do, I'll take full responsibility."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Ben sighed. "Alright… I'm still afraid, but I'll do my best to help you, Collin…"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""Thank you, Ben."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;""Are you sure that I'll be able to help?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Collin smiled. "I've seen you in charms, Ben. You're a powerful wizard for someone who's afraid of magic. Between Mrs. Norris, the locked door, and whatever is on the other side… well I'd feel a lot better having you there with me and Rowan."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Ben nodded again. "Okay… I'll go…"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Collin lit up. "Amazing! Thanks, Ben! We'll probably do it after the holidays."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"Ben shook his head and groaned. "Thank me if I don't flee in terror at the first sight of Mrs. Norris."/p 


	20. Chapter 20:The Christmas Holidays

Collin Hedgehog got an owl a few days before Christmas asking that he stay at school for the holidays. Apparently, Charles was remodeling their home due to a dragon accidentally crashing into their roof and letting snow fill the area. Collin grimaced, but wrote the reply saying he didn't mind. It was to be his first holidays away from Charles, but he'd live. He went down to the Main Hall and found some of his friends there.

Bill Weasley, a tall red furred weasel looked at Collin with concern. "Are you alright, Collin? You look a bit down…"

Collin grimaced, not really wanting to get into the discussion. "I just miss Professor Snape is all. His insults keep me warm in the cold winter months…" Bill and his younger brother, Charlie both looked at him with surprise. "Heh, I'm joking, Bill." Collin then sighed. "I just miss my Dad, my Uncle Jules, and my Aunt Bernie. This is my first holiday without them since I was adopted."

"I understand. I always miss my brothers and sister as it gets closer to seeing them at Christmas."

Charlie, the younger of the Weasley brothers, rolled his eyes. "I'm right here."

"You know what I mean, Charlie."

Collin then raised a brow. "I'm surprised you both didn't go home for the holidays."

Bill grimaced. "Apparently, Fred and George wrecked the burrow. Mum says it isn't safe to come back until everything is fixed."

Charlie looked amused. "I suppose it's best for them to get it out of their systems before coming to Hogwarts."

"What can we do to cheer you up, Collin?" Bill offered.

Collin was taken aback. "I… don't want to talk about it and ruin everyone else's Christmas. Let's hear about everyone else's plans…" After a bit, the group all realized that they were the only ones likely to be found at the castle that Christmas. "It sounds like we're about the only students who decided to stay at Hogwarts for the Christmas Holidays." This group included Penny Haywood, a young girl who could change her appearance at will who was named Nymphadora Tonks, Rowan Khanna, Collin Hedgehog, the Weasley Brothers, and Merula Snyde, who was sitting at her table on her own.

Tonks, as Nymphadora hated her first name, grinned wickedly. "We have the castle all to ourselves!"

Rowan grinned. "Imagine all the reading we can do!"

Bill grimaced. "I don't know if that will help Collin feel any better…"

"Look, Bill, don't worry about me. I doubt there is anything here that'll make me miss Dad any less…" Collin grimaced.

Tonks still had her mischievous grin. "Maybe not, but we can definitely distract you…"

Tonks then proceeded to drag the lot of them, save for Merula, out to the Training Grounds. Collin felt a little bad for the Slytherin to be left behind, but Tonks insistent pulling kept his mind roaming back to wondering what she was up to.

"Shivering in the snow isn't going to make me feel any better about missing my family, Tonks." Collin rolled his eyes.

"No but having a laugh will."

Collin shook his head. "Can't we laugh inside where it's warm?"

"We could, but then I wouldn't be able to show you how to bewitch snowballs."

Collin blinked. "B…bewitch… snowballs?"

"Just watch, Collin. Then get ready for a magic snowball fight…" After a few minutes, Tonks was satisfied that she had taught Collin how to bewitch snowballs. "I think you've learned how to bewitch snowballs, Collin." Collin nodded and backed up. "Just think about me as your target, and cast the charm…"

Collin did as he was told and successfully managed to magically throw a snowball at Tonks. "Whoops, sorry, Tonks."

Tonks giggled. "Don't be sorry, Collin. Now it's my turn…" Three snowballs pelted the boy, causing him to chuckle as well. "Told you this would be fun! Do you give up, Collin?"

"Not my style!" Collin grinned as he raised his wand. "I won't stop till I'm victorious!" An army of snowballs flew up behind him.

"Then this snowball war will rage for ages!" Tonks laughed as they started to pelt each other with snowballs. After a few hours, Tonks gave in. "All right, Collin. It's too cold outside to wage this war for ages. You win…"

"Thanks… let's head inside and get warm." Collin smirked, his long nose having an icicle hanging from it. He broke it off in one go and winced. "I always hate when that happens."

As they went inside, Penny invited them to the Artefact Room where she was brewing up something. "I'm making just the thing to warm us up."

"A fire potion?" Collin grimaced.

"No, but close… I'm making eggnog!"

Collin frowned as he recalled his uncle at Christmas time when he drank too much. "Um… isn't that an adult drink?" Jules had been embarrassed and "Grounded" for a whole week by Charles and Bernie.

"My mum's recipe is for everyone!"

Tonks grinned. "Now that's my sort of potion."

Penny grinned. "My mum makes it during the Christmas holidays. It's delicious, and perfect for getting rid of any winter chill. Have a look, and I'll teach you her **_secret recipe…_** " they worked on the brew for almost an hour, warming up by the fire of the small cauldron. "Here we go. The Eggnog is finished! Give it a try…" She pulled out a few glasses. Collin took the first sip. "How do you like my eggnog, Collin?"

Collin smiled. "It's delicious, Penny. You should make this all year long instead of waiting for the Christmas holidays."

"Thanks, Collin. I'll make sure to share more of my mum's recipes with you."

Collin grimaced as he finished his cup. "Thanks for trying to cheer me up. I think I'll head back to the common room and catch up on my studies." The Eggnog was nice, he didn't lie about that, but it wasn't his favorite drink. He still preferred his apple juice and cookies like when he went to grade school.

"I think I'll drink the rest of this eggnog." Tonks chuckled.

"We'll see you at the Christmas feast, Collin." Penny smiled.

Collin made his way up to the Gryffindor Common Room and found it was decked out for the holidays. Rowan was already there. "I hate to see you feeling down, Collin. Is there anything I can do to cheer you up?"

Collin grimaced. "I don't want everyone going to all the trouble. Thank you, though, Rowan. Tonks and Penny tried, but distractions only work for so long when its these kinds of things. Honestly, I'll be fine. I'm going to catch up on my studies."

"I wish studying made you as happy as it makes me."

Going through the books together, they found some legends of yetis wandering around the grounds at winter time. "A lot of people have claimed to see a yeti around this time of year here at the castle. Aren't they native to Tibet? How could one even get here?"

Rowan chuckled. "Sounds like something Rita Skeeter would write. You don't really think there's a yeti at Hogwarts, do you?"

Collin grinned. 'It's probably just Hagrid they see, but this should be fun for Rowan.' Collin then pretended to think about it. "I've heard they sometimes study yetis in Care of Magical Creatures. Maybe one got loose…"

Rowan grimaced. "I suppose we've seen stranger things… where should we start our investigation?"

"I wouldn't know where to begin… But I know someone who would…" It just so happened that he had spotted the ever-annoying Rita Skeeter earlier that day, stalking the castle.

Collin took Rowan to the corridor he had seen Rita in, and wouldn't you know it, she was still there, the tall jewel beetle with blonde bouncy curly hair, a gaudy purple dress, and her magical quick quill that was likely to lie at everything to make something more interesting.

"Well, well, well… Happy Christmas, Mr. Kintobor… oh, excuse me, **_Hedgehog_**." Rita had done a small report on the boy when he was younger, and Charles had adopted him. It wasn't common for a Mobian to adopt a human child, as racism made them nervous to do so. In Knothole though, there wasn't such a problem, but Charles still had to go to London to get the files done properly in the Ministry of Magic. Charles' muggle friend, Mr. Peabody had had worse commotion from the muggle government when adopting his boy, Sherman.

Collin of course, remembered the woman, as his memory only went fuzzy just before he met Charles. He had snippets of memory before that, but it was almost like someone had tried to take his memories from him. "Happy Christmas to you as well, Ms. Rita Skeeter."

Rita then turned to Rowan, surprising him a bit. "A happy Christmas to you as well, Mr. Khanna."

"You make me nervous." Was Rowan's response.

Rita only smiled. "I'll take that as a compliment. I understand that you two are interested in the massive Yeti that terrorizes Hogwarts during the Christmas holidays…" How had she known? They had just found out about it themselves…

Rowan's eyes went wide behind his glasses. "Is it true?"

"I wrote a story about it for the Daily Prophet, so it must be true."

Collin rolled his eyes. "You also said that Charles rescued me from my psychopathic human family when he just found me in the woods one day, all on my own. Pardon me if I don't find you credible."

"What do you know, you were still a toddler." She huffed.

Rowan was looking at Collin with wide eyes and confusion. "Explanation?"

"Later." Collin gave his usual answer to that. He didn't have all the answers himself after all.

Rita shook it off. "If you want information about the yeti, I'll need something in exchange…"

Rowan didn't have anything, but Collin knew all the best rumors from working with Penny. "Well, rumor is that I'm related to the dark lord secretly, and thus actually related to Salazar Slytherin himself, but why don't you try following up the rumors on Snape being a vampire. There's more behind that one anyway." Rowan just kept looking at Collin like he had lost his mind. He hadn't heard that rumor about Collin before. "Snape supposedly sucks the blood out of his students who interrupt his lectures."

Rita was buying it. "I've always wondered why the Potions classroom is so dimly lit… a vampiric professor would make for quite a story…" Then she lowered her gaze. "But, so would a relative of the Dark Lord being a student here…"

Collin rolled his eyes. "You want to go and do some genealogy, go for it, madam. It doesn't seem like your style though. It would take a lot longer to track down the right papers anyway. It's like tracking down his American relative who made the American school for wizards." With all this thrown in her face, Rita decided that it wasn't worth the trouble of checking such bold claims that the boy said were mere rumors anyway.

"I'll need to validate your claim, of course. I can't publish unsubstantiated rumors in the **_Daily Prophet_** …" Both boys raised a brow at this. "At any rate, you've held up your end of the bargain, Mr. Hedgehog. I'll tell you everything I know about the yeti who preys on Hogwarts during the Christmas holidays…" Her rumors and knowledge were as much hogswash to Collin as his story about Snape being a vampire. The potions room was always dimly lit because it helped students to focus more, and certain ingredients needed to be kept in that kind of environment. As for the blood, Snape didn't suck out any student's blood. He once used a needle to draw some blood for an example of blood types, but that had been his own, and most of the students had fainted, save for Collin, Merula, and Rowan. After telling them the story, she succeeded in startling Rowan while annoying Collin further. "Let me know if you capture it… or if you see it eat one of your friends… either one would make for a great story… Happy Christmas!" She was now off to bug Snape.

Rowan gulped. "Think she was telling the truth?"

"About what? She just gave us the biggest load of muck I've seen since I got my foot stuck in the mud on my way to the greenhouse for herbology." Collin rolled his eyes. "Look, the only truth we got out of that is that she has no care for either of us. Let's go talk to Hagrid."

Hagrid, as it turns out, was working in the Charms room. The giant was having a bit of a hard time fitting in between the two separate bleachers where students learned, but he managed it.

"Happy Christmas, Hagrid." Collin smiled at the half-giant.

"Happy Christmas, Collin. You too, Rowan. It's always good ter see yeh both."

Rowan smiled back. "You too, Hagrid. Why are you in the Charms room though?"

Hagrid looked a bit upset at that. "I was hopin' teh find Fang. This is one o' the last places I haven' already searched. That pup's always runnin off…"

Collin was also fond of the pup. "Don't worry, Hagrid. I'm sure he'll turn up somewhere."

"I hope yer right, Collin. It's cold out fer a pup. What can I deh fer yeh?"

"We wanted to see what you knew about a yeti that's apparently here during the Christmas holidays." Collin shrugged.

"I've heard the stories, but never seen him meself, unfortunately… If it helps, I can tell yeh everythin' I know about Yetis. I love talkin' about yetis."

Collin smiled patiently. So long as no one was trying to cheer him up, he'd be fine. "That would be great, Hagrid. Anything you can tell us will be helpful…" Besides, he liked learning.

After about twenty minutes on everything Hagrid knew, which was actually a pretty good amount, Hagrid finished up. "…and anything else yeh want ta know, well, yeh could always try professor Kettleburn. I should get back teh lookin' fer Fang."

"Thanks, Hagrid. We'll let you know if we find Fang. He'll turn up soon, I'm sure." Collin nodded as they started off.

"Hope yer right. Happy Christmas teh yeh both."

"Happy Christmas, Hagrid."

Rowan looked at Collin as they left. "We really are going to talk about the stuff you told Rita later… right?"

"When I don't feel like it'll get us both killed, sure." Collin kept quiet as he realized what a gamble that had been.

"Alright… so, what do we do now?"

"Now? Why we see Professor Kettleburn of course. He probably has an idea about the yetis." They went to the courtyard to find Griff so that they could try to track down Kettleburn, only to find the professor himself. "Okay… that's convenient…" Collin raised a brow as they went.

"Happy Christmas!" This rabbit Mobian was more machine in some places than Mobian, as he was missing an arm and a leg. He had a patch over one eye and fluffy white hair on his head. Even one of his ears, which was bent, looked like it had a bite taken out of it. His fur was a creamy color of orange, and his brown eyes were filled with delight.

"Happy Christmas, Professor Kettleburn."

Kettleburn then frowned. "I hope you didn't get me a new leg for Christmas. I've grown quite fond of this one."

Collin grimaced. "Not this year, sir, no. We just wanted to talk about Yetis since one is supposedly running about here."

"Did it eat a student?!"

"I don't think so."

"That's a relief. I feel like I ask that question far too often…" Kettleburn grimaced.

Collin just smiled. "I'd love to become friends with a yeti. I'm sure it's possible…" He chuckled at his own words. 'If it was, maybe they'd help me get rid of this overbearing fear I have… doubt it, but still…'

Kettleburn was excited at the idea. "I'm sure you're right, Mr. Hedgehog." Then, with that same smile, "Of course, it's also possible that it eats you alive… I'll tell you the story of how this particular yeti got loose from Hogwarts…" It wasn't that long of a story. Apparently, it just walked off. There was no fence in the Magical Creatures Class area of the forest.

Collin raised a brow, only somewhat surprised that there might really be a yeti out there. "And where do you think the Yeti is now?"

"I haven't the slightest idea. It could have made a home in the forbidden forest… it could have wandered far away from the castle grounds… it could have opened a cozy little inn in Hogsmeade. It's fifteen feet tall, so wherever it is, it's somewhere with plenty of space."

"Thanks, Professor Kettleburn. That's very helpful."

"You two really shouldn't go searching for that yeti…"

Rowan was quick to agree. "Yes, sir."

"But, if you do, try to get him back to the care of magical creatures enclosure."

This time, Rowan took the lead, and led them to the Training Grounds. Instead of finding a yeti there, they found Fang. "Woof! Woof! Woof!" The dark furred pup barked. He had so many wrinkles on his face, that he looked like he was always pouting.

"Well, we found Fang." Rowan smiled.

Collin looked around, appreciating the open space covered in snow. "Indeed… Kettleburn said the Yeti might be somewhere spacious, and the field here is pretty spacious… huh… well, at least we can tell Hagrid that we found Fang. Let's get him to Hagrid's hut." Fang barked again, trying to get their attention.

"What's he barking at?"

"Maybe he's just c…" Collin's blue eyes widened as he looked up at where Fang was staring. "…"

"It's the Yeti!" Rowan cried out as the beast roared at them. It looked like an enormous gorilla that stood at Hagrid's height and was covered in snow!

"Yeah, I kinda noticed!" Collin stood between Rowan and the fierce creature, as Rowan was petrified.

"Yetis eat people! And dogs, probably!"

"Snap out of it, Rowan! That's not helping!" Collin snapped at his taller friend. Fang was now hiding behind him as well. "Well this doesn't look stupid." He muttered. "And Yeti seems this is how it's going down." Poor puns were a defense Collin was used to using. The yeti came towards them, roaring at them. "Oh, shut up!" He threw a vial of his latest failed potion which ended up exploding at the beast's arm that covered it's face where the vial would have hit.

The yeti was now holding its arm and whimpering. Rowan finally snapped out of his shocked state and ran up to Collin. "You defeated a yeti, Collin! I can't believe it!" Fang barked happily in agreement. The yeti whimpered.

Collin made his way towards the yeti. "I think I might have hurt him a bit too much with that potion… It was far too easy to beat this poor fellow."

"What should we do with the yeti?"

"Well first, I'm going to fix the arm, then I'm going to set him free in the forest… A creature like this shouldn't be kept in captivity, and Kettleburn doesn't really know how to take care of it."

"Are you sure, Collin?" Even Fang was surprised. The Yeti also looked at the boy with shock. This boy was less than a third its height, had defeated the yeti, and now was going to set it free?

"Yes, I'm sure." He poured some of his Wiggenweld potion into a bowl his satchel held for potions. "I'll meet you in the castle so we can get ready for the feast." Rowan took Fang back to Hagrid's, while Collin finished tending to the Yeti. "There we go. Good as new, now, why don't you go on to the forest so that we don't have this happen again, eh? You scared us rather good, and I am sorry that I hurt you, but I didn't want my friends to get hurt." The yeti grunted and did as told, leaving Collin alone in the training grounds. "I seriously thought we were just going to find Hagrid covered in snow, not a full-on yeti, my god! Dad's gonna have a heart attack hearing about this one…" Collin muttered as he brought out his journal and penciled down all that had happened and drew a quick sketch of the yeti.

When Collin got to the Great Hall, Rowan was still talking to the others about how Collin had singlehandedly defeated a yeti! Penny was impressed. "I still can't believe that the yeti exists, much less that you battled it right here at school!"

"It wasn't much of a fight." Collin shrugged as he sat down. "I threw one potion at it, and it cried."

"Are you feeling a bit better after battling a legendary creature, Collin?"

Collin rolled his eyes. "I'm not sure how much the yeti had to do with it, but yes, I'm feeling quite a bit better." Collin smiled softly. "I miss my family, but I'm lucky to have such great friends."

"Don't make me cry, Collin." Rowan sniffed. "It fogs up my glasses."

Penny smiled, the cheerful one of the group. "This is our Hogwarts family. We should do something to make it feel a bit more like a traditional family Christmas back home…"

Rowan grimaced. "I could always pull a muscle trying to chop down a Christmas tree…"

Tonks laughed. "And I could always open everyone's gifts the night before…"

Bill frowned. "And I could pretend to yell at Fred and George for wrecking everything…"

Collin chuckled. "Those all sound fun, but let's come up with more Christmas ideas…"

They talked about it for a while, including making paper crowns, and snow men, but eventually, Collin Hedgehog had the winning idea.

"I think it would be a lot of fun to give each other gifts…"

"That's brilliant. We'll each choose one friend and find them something nice here at Hogwarts. Bill agreed.

Charlie spoke up next. "Who do you want to get a gift for, Collin?"

Collin didn't have to think hard, as Merula Snyde was still on her lonesome, studying books, at her table. She had been there all day too, missing out on all the fun. "I'm going to get Merula something. She's got to be feeling quite lonely there on her one. It's sorta sad, really…"

Merula looked up from her books and glared. "You realize sound carries quite well in this room?"

Collin shrugged. "Why not join us then, eh? No one is here but us, and we wouldn't ruin your reputation of being the school bully if you showed a soft side just once." Merula just glared at him harder before going back to her books.

Rowan rolled his eyes. "If you're getting something for Merula, then I think I'll get something for Penny." He didn't understand why Collin was so nice to Merula, but he accepted it was probably just his way to try and get her to be nice to them… or maybe it was just in Collin's nature to be nice in general? Who really knew.

Penny smiled. "Thanks, Rowan. I'll get you something too!"

Collin stood up. "Let's search the castle for gifts, and meet back here when we're finished…"

Collin was surprised to find that Peeves had stopped him in the hall. "Come with me for more fun Christmas chaos!" He invited. Peeves was a blue poltergeist that was renowned for causing chaos. He wore a jester's hat and could change form at will, often looking like a jester of an Igor.

Collin was curious as to what the spirit was up to, but he wasn't one to deny the poltergeist, as he found him quite amusing, unlike most. Collin followed him to the artefact room. "Alright, Peeves, what do you want?" He asked in his most serious face, knowing that his expression was about to be broken somehow.

"Hmm…" Peeves seemed to be looking the runt of a human over. "A massive niffler made of fireworks that spits fire and kicks Filch and turns everything boring into explosions!" Collin started laughing. "Also, complete chaos!" Collin couldn't stop laughing, this was the funniest thing someone had answered for that question. "Also, a new hat!" Collin took a few minutes to calm down but smiled. He had no clue how to get a spirit a hat, but he'd figure it out one day probably. That was the only thing he could possibly get the poltergeist from that crazy wish list.

"I had meant, why ask for me to come here?"

"I heard Hedgehog is looking for a gift for Snyde, and I have the perfect thing. I like Snyde." Peeves admitted. "She's always causing trouble."

"Hehe, that's quite helpful, Peeves. What is it?"

Peeves then went devious again. "You have to find it yourself!"

"Hehe, of course I do." Collin smiled softly. He knew Peeves liked his games.

"Happy Hallowe'en!"

Collin snorted. "It's Christmas."

"April Fools!"

Collin just kept laughing as he started searching. If anyone had thought to set Peeves on Collin to make him happy, they might have had something there. Peeves kept telling Collin funny things, and Collin started to say equally funny things back to him, the both of them having a laugh. Peeves would sometimes give him hints as to whether he was warm or not in finding the object he was looking for… whatever it was… Collin missed laughing like this. His uncle and father were almost always pulling laughs out of him with their small prank wars, especially Jules, as he didn't know when to quit.

Collin eventually found an out of place object. "Ah, found something." He pulled it out and showed it to Peeves, who was quite happy.

"You found the perfect present for Snyde!"

"A song book for Merula eh?"

Peeves then got in Collin's face like the madman he was. "Trust in Peeves, Hedgehog. He knows things. Also, he is me."

"Heh, alright. I don't really know what she wants, so I suppose it's worth a try. Thank you for your help, Peeves." Collin smiled. "Happy Christmas." Peeves bowed and then disappeared in a pop.

Collin decided to check on the potions room, knowing that Rowan was probably going to go there for something for Penny. He was not disappointed. Rowan spotted Collin coming in and grimaced. "Did Snape go home for the Christmas holidays?"

"Who knows. I can only imagine what his home looks like…" Collin had this saddened feeling when he thought about Snape living alone. No one should be alone for Christmas.

"There's probably lots of shadows." Rowan interrupted his thoughts.

Collin grimaced, "And bat spleens…"

"And Cauldrons…"

"So, you're saying it's this exact same room with a bed in it?" Collin was still in good humor from his time with Peeves. Very few knew that Peeves was good to hang out with as they usually got upset by his pranks. Collin took those pranks in stride however and thought of it like having a family relative who liked playing pranks since they all lived in the castle with Peeves. His own Hedgehog family certainly liked pranks, as he could think of nothing better than waking up on April Fool's day to help his Uncle Jules to prank half of Knothole and then help his dad to clean it all up again while Jules got unstuck from the prank they had set on him.

Rowan nodded. "Do you think you can help me find a gift for Penny? I couldn't think of a better place to look than here."

"Not a problem. I needed help finding my gift too. Let's look around and find the perfect present… and hopefully not get on Snape's naughty list." Collin grimaced. After a bit, the boys had found a few potion ingredients that they thought Penny might need. Rowan picked out a few and the two headed back to the hall.

Collin noticed that Merula was practically asleep at her table. 'Poor thing. I hope I got her something she'll like. She could really use more happiness…' He was a little surprised to see a gift was even set aside for him. "Was everyone able to get their gifts?" He usually preferred making things, but thanks to Peeves, he had something else.

"I found something cool in the Gryffindor Common Room." Bill smiled.

Charlie grinned. "I got something from near the Whomping Willow."

Tonks had that devious smile like always. "I may or may not have found something cool in Filch's office."

Collin smiled. "Well, I think I found the perfect gift for Merula." His voice was softer and quieter so she couldn't hear him. The group started to open up their gifts. Collin walked over to Merula. "Here, Merula. Why not open your gift first."

Merula looked baffled. "You… seriously got me something?" Her purple eyes were filled with confusion and distrust. Collin smirked. "You're such an idiot."

"Hehe, maybe so. Just open your present, Merula." Collin smiled, waiting to see the Slytherin's reaction in full.

She carefully examined the box and then opened it. "You… got me a song book?"

"I know it's sort of strange, but… I…"

"How did you know I wanted a song book?" Merula looked at him accusingly.

Collin grimaced. "I… didn't really, but Peeves told me. Do you like to sing?"

"I…" Collin waited, wanting to learn more about the strange girl for once. Instead, she managed a nice, "Thank you… Hedgehog… Happy Christmas." Collin grinned. The smile on Merula's face was well worth it. She actually looked pretty and nice, like a normal young girl!

"Heh, you're most welcome, Merula. Happy Christmas." They made their way back over to the others.

Rowan was excited. "Open yours, Collin!"

Collin looked his over with confusion and shrugged. "All right…" Everyone seemed happy for him. His blue eyes watered as he saw what it was. "It…it's a photo of all my friends…"

"We took it before everyone else left for the Christmas holidays." Tonks explained.

"The frame is made from an alder tree grown on my parent's farm." Rowan piped up.

Collin wanted to cry, he loved it so much. "Do you like it?" Penny asked.

"Are you kidding? I… I love it. Thank you so much, all of you. I … I don't know what to say…"

Bill smiled. "You don't have to say anything, Collin. Happy Christmas." Bill's smile then faded. "Now Charlie and I just have to find something for Mum and Dad. Our parents are coming for a visit."

Collin smiled. "Don't worry. We'll find a perfect gift for your mum and dad before they get to Hogwarts…"

Just as the group was leaving, Griff, Collin's owl, came and landed on his head. It had a small letter for him.

"I'll be there in a minute." Collin quickly read the letter, smirked, and Griff flew off with a quick reply given by Collin. Apparently, the Weasleys weren't the only ones visiting, though Charles would probably be at the feast a little late. Collin now felt ecstatic.

Collin met up with the Weasley brothers in the artefact room. They were looking for muggle artifacts. "Dad's mad about them." Bill explained as they searched. "Mum, not so much…"

"He's always going on about strange muggle contraptions. Taking them apart, and putting them back together…" Charlie added.

"He'd get along with my dad just great. Dad does repairs on those things for a living."

"Really?" The Weasleys were impressed. "Well our Dad's fascinated by the ways muggles manage to do things without magic."

"He even works in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office in the Ministry of Magic."

Collin smirked. "Well, I'm always surprised by the things I find in this room… so let's see if we can find him a muggle artifact." It only took an hour for Collin to find something. "Oh, this is going to be good." The midget chuckled. "I found one!"

Bill saw the toaster in Collin's hand and grinned. "It has a plug! Dad absolutely loves plugs."

Charlie had never seen a toaster before. "What do you think it does?"

Collin looked at the two with surprise. "You mean… you've never seen a toaster before?"

"What's a toaster?"

"This is a toaster. You put bread and similar food inside these slots here, push the lever, and when it's ready it'll pop out and you can eat the food then."

"That can't be right." Bill frowned.

"That's more magical than anything we do." Charlie added.

Collin rolled his eyes. "Trust me, I got one at home."

"Alright. We still need a gift for mum." Charlie pointed out.

"What does she like?"

"Mum loves to knit, so if you can find her some sort of colorful wool or something, she'd be happy."

Bill smiled. "She might even knit you something if you're lucky."

Charlie whispered. "Or unlucky, depending on how you look at it."

"Hehe, don't worry. I'll find something special for Mrs. Weasley. I can't wait to meet them at the Christmas feast.

Collin met up with Rowan at the Gryffindor Common Room. Rowan was willing to give what he had left of his wool from his note connecting practices for Mrs. Weasley's gift. It didn't take long for Collin to find some Magenta Light worsted Knitting wool. Collin then had to get something for his dad.

Collin easily got out a painting he had been working on for his dad and had been about to send it with Griff when he had gotten the letter. He placed it in a simple frame that he made out of some sticks he had found during the fall. The painting of the Hedgehog Brothers looked quite impressive. Collin had one last thing to do before the Christmas feast.

He found Merula outside in the courtyard looking up at the sky. She noticed his feet crunching the snow as he came towards her. "What are you doing here, Hedgehog?" She was still in a decent mood from earlier it seemed, and Collin knew as soon as anyone was in earshot, it'd be back to old "Kintobor" for him.

Collin looked at the girl with concern. "I was going to ask you the same thing. Why are you out here in the freezing cold all by yourself?"

"I don't want to talk about it. Especially with you." Good mood gone.

"That's fine." Collin was patient. "I just wanted to see if you wanted to eat with us at the Christmas feast."

"Why?"

"Because I hate seeing people alone on Christmas, and that includes you."

"Well… I hate to see you at all…" She tried.

It didn't faze him. "Come now, Merula… I've heard far worse…"

"I can't go to the Christmas feast until I cast the Snowflake-making spell…" She finally admitted. "It's a … tradition."

Collin's eyes lit up. "Will you teach it to me?"

"Will you leave me alone if I do?" Merula tried again to get him to leave her be.

Collin sighed. "If that's truly what you want…"

"Fine…" Merula conceded. "I suppose I owe you something for getting me that song book…"

Collin smiled. He was very glad none of his friends were nearby or the girl would probably never have been so nice to him. Merula was surprisingly patient with her short pupil.

After a while, Merula figured Collin had it. "I think you have it, Hedgehog. Try casting the Snowflake making charm…" Collin did the movements with the ease Merula had shown, and soon the sky was filled with graceful snowflakes falling. Merula actually had a smile on her face as she looked at it, and then she spotted Collin's face full of wonder at being able to cast such a simple spell. He looked like a tiny kid, full of wonder. "Not bad, Hedgehog, not bad…" She mumbled.

Collin then looked at Merula with concern again, startling her. "Um… pardon me for asking, but… why didn't you go home for the Christmas holidays, Merula?"

Merula didn't answer with any malice for once. "I don't have anything to go home to… My parents are in Azkaban… my house is empty… my life is ruined…" She actually seemed to be breaking. Her hard walls that she had set up were crumbling before the boy she had made into her sworn enemy, or so she thought. "My mum taught me that spell when I was just a little girl, and we'd use it every Christmas. It's the only spell she ever taught me that couldn't be used to hurt someone."

"I'm sorry, Merula. I never even knew my mother, so… I really have nothing to say on that…"

Merula snapped at him. "I don't want your pity, Kintobor. I just want to be left alone…" Her eyes were filled with rage and tears.

Collin didn't flee though. "I wish you'd come with me to the Christmas Feast…"

Merula turned away and tried to regain her composure. "We don't always get what we wish for, Hedgehog…" She was calm again if she was using his adopted name. "Happy Christmas." With that, she walked off, the snow covering her prints.

Collin sighed as he went in, hoping she'd turn up eventually. As he entered the Great Hall, he spotted two weasels with curly red hair that matched the Weasley boys. They were undoubtedly their parents.

Mrs. Molly Weasley was slightly plump in figure and had a doting mother look about her. "Oh, it's so nice to meet you, Collin. We've heard so much about you."

Collin blushed. He never did like being the center of attention. "It's nice to meet you as well, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley."

Arthur Weasley was taller and thinner than his wife, and both of them were wearing knitted clothes, obviously done by Mrs. Weasley. "Tell us all about your adventures with the Cursed Vaults!" He was excited apparently to hear about this. Molly on the other hand noticed Collin's nervousness about it and glared at her husband. Arthur felt the fur on the back of his neck stand up. Collin hadn't even found a vault and already people were thinking he had done stuff. He turned his head to notice his wife's glare, and then corrected himself. "Er, I mean, you certainly shouldn't be messing with those Cursed Vaults… Especially not with our boys…"

Collin grimaced as he sat next to Penny. "Trust me, farthest thing from my mind was going in there. As for your boys, well they lend themselves to the situation to help out their friends. Great quality, but I don't mean to place them in danger. Danger just finds me… sorry." Collin sighed. It was only as he sat down that the Weasleys could see how short he was compared to his friends. "What brings you to Hogwarts?"

Molly smiled. "Well, I wanted to see Charlie and Bill…" Then she got a bit sour. "And if I'm being honest, Fred and George were driving me a bit mad."

Collin smirked as Arthur spoke up. "They always get especially excited around Christmas. And they're already rather… excitable."

"Great Aunt Muriel is at the Burrow watching them, along with Ginny, Percy, and Ronald."

Arthur then grimaced. "Great Aunt Muriel was driving me a bit mad as well."

"Arthur…" Molly scolded.

"Sorry, dear." Arthur only half apologized.

Bill spoke up to try to distract his mother. "We got you gifts!"

Molly went back to her sweet form. "Gifts for your mum and dad? That's very thoughtful, Bill. You had better not make me cry in front of your friends…"

"Yes, well, we couldn't have done it without Collin."

"Well, thank you, Collin." Collin wanted to hide again, as all the attention was on him. He blushed almost as red as his uniform's tie! Molly then turned to her husband. "Open yours first, Arthur…"

"Don't mind if I do…" Bill handed them their gifts. Arthur opened his and was surprised to find the toaster in it. "I can't believe it… Do you know what this is?!" He asked Charlie.

"Not at all…"

"It's a toaster…" Collin repeated from earlier. "It helps muggles prepare food…"

"That's an excellent guess, Collin, but it's actually a genuine muggle Toastit!" Collin raised a brow, wondering what the hey the crazy weasel thought that meant. "Thank you, Collin. I've been wanting one of these for quite a long time."

Molly scoffed a bit. "I don't like encouraging Arthur's obsession with Muggle Artefacts…" Then she softened. "But I do enjoy seeing that smile on his face."

Bill was excited now. "Open your present, mum."

"You boys didn't have to get me anything…"

"Yes, you did…" Arthur muttered to Charlie who just grinned back at his dad.

Molly opened hers to see the magenta wool. "What beautiful wool. This color is perfect for a jumper I've been meaning to knit for Ronald."

Rowan spoke up now. "You can also use it to organize your research."

Molly smiled and chuckled lightly. "I'll keep that in mind, dear. Thank you. Now, let's enjoy our time together…" The group started talking about random things going on while Collin quietly excused himself from the main group. He didn't want to intrude, and he felt still a bit awkward about the entire thing.

Collin took a position near the windows where he could still be seen so no one would think he left and get upset, and he could still answer questions if asked, but he would also be left alone for the most part to think about all of the events of the past couple of days. He had seen a side of Merula Snyde that he liked. It was so peculiar. Not only that, but she had been open to him about a family tradition she did with her own parents before they were put in Azkaban… Now he started to wonder about his families, both human and Mobian. He knew Charles and Jules were troublesome, much like Fred and George from the sounds of it, and he knew his aunt Bernie always had to help them out of a fix. But they were good people all in all. With his human family though… the more Collin thought about it, the more he doubted his memories of them. He had been an infant after all. Surely, he couldn't rely on memories from then if that was the case, right? His mother died in childbirth, that was the only thing he knew other than… other than… Collin grabbed at his clothes, a red sweater with a black jacket. He hugged himself. He knew better than to think about them, but he couldn't help it. Those scars on his back… Dr. Quack, the muggle Doctor in Knothole, along with his dad, Charles, had both been shocked to see them, and said that it looked like someone had tried to use him for a powerful spell. There were runes in his back. All Collin ever got clearly was that the knife had been held by two people, one to set the curse, one to try and change it. He had been freed after the curse had been altered, but… his memories… they were missing… why was he only getting fragments… Collin hadn't realized he had collapsed on the floor, up against the wall. The only ones who had realized what had happened were Rowan, who was trying to figure out how to help his friend without ruining the party's mood, and a dusty blue hedgehog who had just entered the room.

The hedgehog saw Collin and was by his side before anyone could realize he was there. Rowan was startled. The hedgehog didn't mind that, he knew that Collin was sending himself into shock trying to remember the missing pieces. This happened often enough at home that Charles knew the signs and patterns. "Has he done this here before?"

"No, sir." Rowan shook his head, slightly confused about who this hedgehog was. "You're… are you…?"

"I'm his dad, yes. Charles Hedgehog. You're his friend, Rowan Khanna, aren't you?"

"Yes, sir. Is he okay?"

"He was trying to remember something. This happens when he tries to go too far back. Collin remembers a lot of things, things he shouldn't remember, but one of the scariest things is that he remembers a lot of what happened before I found him." Charles sighed. This happened rarely, but at the same time, often enough for him to recognize it. "I've been told his memories from then were probably obliviated, but that never really seemed to hold true for some reason. They shouldn't have even been tampered with at all, he was a toddler when I found him, practically a baby still…" Charles gently touched his son's shoulder, the unmarked one. "Collin. Collin, wake up, son. You're missing the party." Charles calmly talked his boy out of his stupor.

Collin blinked, his mind fast forwarding back to the present. He shook his head and blushed. "OH… um… sorry… must have nodded off…" He didn't remember falling asleep or even thinking about the scars. He merely remembered thinking he wanted Merula to join in and feel welcomed for once, but that was where his memories cut off for some reason. He figured he must have spaced out and seemed to be falling asleep, since he hadn't even noticed Charles entering the scene. "Heh, hey, Dad… when did you get here?"

Rowan was about to say something when Charles took lead. "I just got here a moment ago and noticed you boys over here. You were falling asleep on your friend, here. Must have been a busy day, huh?"

"Like you wouldn't believe… we had a snowball fight, we exchanged simple gifts that were really something, OH, and I learned two new spells today!" Collin was back to the excitable boy that Charles knew, and that Rowan saw when the vaults weren't involved, and no one was in danger. Rowan was relieved, though now he wondered what Charles knew that Collin didn't, and why Collin had these kinds of attacks. Rowan wandered back over to their friends while Charles and Collin sat at a table. Collin was now full of energy since his dad was there for him to talk to. It was the most energized Rowan had seen Collin in a while, but after thinking about it, Rowan realized that to Collin, nothing could go wrong so long as Charles was there for him. So long as Charles was there, nothing bad could happen to Collin, at least, that was what the young boy's mind believed.

Collin's attention was grabbed by Merula finally joining the group. "This party falls somewhere between awkward and dreadful…"

"Hehe, sorry, Merula." Collin smiled as he saw her. Charles just raised a brow in amusement. "It's nice of you to show up though."

Molly then noticed Merula as well. "Just who is this little witch?"

Merula then introduced herself in her usual cocky manner. "Merula Snyde. The most powerful witch at Hogwarts." Charles looked at Collin as though to say he had thought the boy was exaggerating the girl's ego in his letters.

Molly then smirked in her own way. "I wouldn't be so sure about that. Wipe that scowl off your face, and have something to eat, Merula."

"Oh," Collin had a thought as he stood up by Merula. "I've been waiting for the right time for a surprise. Something Merula taught me…"

Merula, much to everyone's surprise, save for Collin, only gave him a slight glare. "Don't make me look bad," She noticed Charles was there. "…Hedgehog."

Collin grinned as he stood up on stage with his wand. He cast the snowflake making charm Merula had taught him a few hours ago. Charles looked at it in awe, as did everyone else. "That's beautiful, son." Charles smiled.

"Absolutely wonderful." Arthur agreed.

Rowan smiled, happy Collin was well again so to speak, and that there was now snow falling in the Great Hall. "Thank you, Collin."

"Happy Christmas." Penny smiled.

Collin couldn't wipe that grin off his face. "Happy Christmas everyone."

Even Merula was smiling at the snow. It was probably the only time these people would see her so happy and cheerful, and no one was in pain. It was certainly a happy Christmas.


	21. Chapter21:Faith, Wings, and Fairy Things

One day in the spring, Collin received a note to meet Hagrid in the nearby woods near the plains that Sickle the Niffler was staying. He went in wearing his "Forest gear" as he now called the gifted outfit from Hagrid.

Hagrid waived when he saw the boy making his way through the forest with relative ease compared to some of the other students. "Thanks fer meetin' me all the way out here, Collin."

Collin grinned. "No problem, Hagrid. I'm always willing to help a friend." He then looked a little concerned. "Plus, your letter sounded a tad upset. Is everything alright?"

Hagrid sighed. "No, Collin. I reckon I'm not. Professor Snape's out of the fairy wings he needs fer his beautification potion lesson."

"Er… I'm… sure he'll find a way to get more?" Collin scratched his head with slight confusion, unable to understand the problem with Hagrid yet.

"That's the problem, he already has." Hagrid looked really upset. "I overheard him sayin' he's goin' the harvest the wings from the fairies in my garden."

"Oh…" Collin had to think on that. "That's a shame… I can't really imagine fairies without their wings."

"I agree." Hagrid nodded. "Removin' a fairy's wings don't hurt 'em, but it does make 'em awful annoyed. It just seems like a rotten thing teh do teh a vain creature like that. Plus I've grown rather fond o' the little creatures an' would hate the see 'em upset."

Collin then had a thought. "So you want to keep Snape from finding the fairies?"

Hagrid nodded. "Yes, I was hopin' the relocate 'em here, but they're refusin' to leave. I suspect they like layin' their eggs on the underside o' my pumpkin leaves. Professor Snape'll be 'round my hut any day now and I'm still not sure what the do. Will you help me, Collin?"

Hagrid didn't even need to do any sad eyes. Collin eagerly agreed. "Of course, Hagrid. Between the two of us, I'm sure we can come up with a plan to convince the fairies to relocate."

The two of them sat on a log and started talking on what they could do. The two of them had come up with a few ideas. "We could try to scare the fairies out of your garden."

"It's not a bad idea, but if we scare 'em, there's no tellin' where they might fly off. If they go further on school grounds, Professor Snape'll find 'em fer sure."

"Alright then, how about we just capture them and release them somewhere else?"

Hagrid frowned. "I already tried, but they're tricky little creatures. Capturing one isn' easy. The five pumpkins I smashed tryin' to do it can attest teh that."

"Then… instead of moving the Fairies… why don't we try asking Snape directly if he can get the Fairy wings somewhere else?"

"I already tried, but no luck. Snape said he didn't want teh change his lesson plan on account o' me feelin' bad fer 'some bugs'."

Collin scratched his head. "Well, so much for my good ideas…" He started trying to think back to when he was a child. 'How had Dad convinced me to stay with him when I was younger… surely I wasn't that compliant…'

"If only we could figure out the best way teh convince the fairies teh move…"

"That might have to be it, Hagrid. We'll test out different methods on a fairy to determine the best way to persuade them." Collin reasoned.

"That sounds like a good plan, but where'll we get a fairy? The ones in my garden are all hidin' from me."

Collin rubbed the back of his head as he thought about it. "I… I'm sure I can find a fairy here in the magical creatures reserve…" Collin nodded as he confirmed the thoughts in his head. "Yeah, I'll just go find one and lure it to the care of magical creatures class area!" He set off to go do just that.

It took him a while to find a fairy, but he eventually found a small fairy that was fierce with red hair, fluttery wings, and seemed to be weed like skinned. He took a few days to feed it, take care of it, and gain its trust. He gently coaxed the winged creature to towards the Care of Magical Creatures class area. He found Hagrid there waiting for him.

Hagrid's eyes were wide with surprise. "Collin, I see yeh've brought a fairy!"

Collin nodded. "Just like I promised! This is a fairy." Collin smirked as the Fairy fluttered near him. "I've been feeding and taking care of it."

"Nice the meet yeh, Fairy." Hagrid smirked. The fairy buzzed at him, seeming a bit annoying. "It seems Fairy's not me biggest fan."

Collin smirked. "That's perfect!"

Hagrid was confused. "It is? But wouldn' it be better if the Fairies like an' trusted me?"

Collin nodded. "Think about it, Hagrid. If you can figure out how to convince Fairy to listen to you now…" He then looked at his new fairy friend. "You should have no problem persuading the fairies in your garden to move…"

Hagrid finally got the idea. "Then I can relocate 'em before Professor Snape can find 'em!"

"Exactly!"

"So where should we start?"

Collin placed his hands on his hips and looked at his giant friend. "You're the creature expert, Hagrid. I should be asking you that question." He raised a brow.

"Teh be honest, Collin, I haven' got much experience workin' firsthand with fairies…" Hagrid grimaced. "I know they're vain, and they're always primpin' an' preenin', but I'm not sure how that'll help us." He scratched his head. "That's why I was hopin' yeh'd have an idea on how the win over a Fairy."

Collin looked at his new fairy friend with a smirk. "That's easy, you should try to bond with a fairy by flattering it. That should help you to be more likely to get them to listen to you."

"Good idea, Collin! Fairies are vain creatures, after all."

Collin indicated for his friend to move forward. "Go on then, Hagrid. See if you can get it to come around to you with flattery."

Hagrid took a deep breathe, and tried to compliment the fairy. "Yer wings are lookin' quite nice today, Fairy." The fairy blinked and buzzed in surprise. "In fact, yeh must be the prettiest Fairy I've ever seen!" The fairy was getting excited with it's buzzing. "It worked! Fairy's really warmed up to me!"

"Brilliant! Now we know flattery is the way to go. With a little polish, I bet we could perfect a way to persuade the Fairies."

Collin smiled as he watched Hagrid work with his fairy friend. Collin somehow had a feeling of how to do things like this, working with creatures from deep within the forest. He remembered a time when he did it out of habit. Talking to strange creatures with little to no problem, and somehow being able to survive in a situation that doesn't always make sense… Collin shook off the thoughts. Those had probably just been stories he read, there was no way **_that_** part of his life had been real… Charles found him probably hours after he had been left alone… right?

Collin smirked as he saw his friend's confidence growing. "This proves it! Playing to a Fairy's vanity is the best way to persuade it. If you try that with the Fairies in your garden, you should have no problem convincing them to move."

"This is great, Collin! I can't wait the try it out!"

Collin bit his lip. "Hold on, Hagrid. It might be a good idea if I study the Fairies a bit more first…" Collin smirked. "That way I'll know how to best react in case something goes wrong."

Hagrid looked a little confused. "A little extra studyin' never hurt anybody, I suppose."

Collin nodded. "I'll go and do some more research, then meet you when I'm finished."

Collin spent the next few days researching with Rowan in the library, convincing Ben to talk his fairy with him, and even managing to get the fairy's name from it; Ana Fey. Who knew Fairies knew Morse code? Collin certainly had some fun with the conversations now. He became concerned though when Hagrid had sent him a letter to meet with him at the training grounds as soon as he could with his fairy. Collin raced down and got Ana Fey to follow him to the grounds.

"Thanks fer comin' and bringin' yer Fairy, Collin." Hagrid nodded in greeting.

Collin nodded back. "Of course, but what's the matter? We weren't supposed to meet up until later."

"It's Professor Snape. I saw him lookin' around me hut fer Fairies!"

Collin's eyes widened. He had less time to work with than he had hoped. "He's already begun to hunt them for their Fairy Wings?"

Hagrid then seemed to get more upset. "I know I told yeh I'd wait before I started relocatin' 'em, but there wasn' any time…" Hagrid then looked a little proud. "So I took advantage o' Professor Snape returnin' teh the castle fer supplies teh talk teh the Fairies."

Collin nodded again. "You made the right call, Hagrid. How did it go?"

"Good, at first. I was able the use what we learned about flatterin' Fairies the persuade 'em teh move." Then Hagrid got upset again. "In fact, I was in the process o' relocatin' the Fairies one by one… when Professor Snape returned."

"Oh no!" Collin felt bad now.

"Thankfully, I had already relocated all but one o' 'em. But the last fairy was so startled by Professor Snape that it flew off towards the castle!" Collin's eyes widened at the possibilities of what could happen there. "That's why I called yeh an' yer Fairy here. I figured the best way teh find a Fairy is with another Fairy." He looked at the two pleadingly. "So will yeh two help me find the missin' one before Professor Snape does? It headed in this direction."

Collin nodded. "Of course, Hagrid. Let's search around a bit. I'm sure we'll find the missing Fairy."

Ana buzzed in agreement, and the hunt was on. After an hour, Hagrid got discouraged.

"That's odd, there's no sign o' a Fairy around here… besides yers, o' course. But I could've sworn I saw it come this way…"

It was at that point that Penny Haywood showed up. "Did you say you're looking for a Fairy?"

Collin nodded. "Yes, one of Hagrid's! Did you happen to see one, Penny?"

"Actually, yes, in the Potions Classroom, though it was such an odd sight I thought I must've imagined it."

Collin face palmed himself while Hagrid groaned. "Oh no! Professor Snape'll find it fer sure!"

Collin shook his head and sighed. "Don't worry, Hagrid. I have a plan." He turned his gaze to Penny. "Penny, I promised Hagrid that I'd help prevent Snape from finding the Fairy and takings its wings. But, in order to do that, it seems I'll need your help. Will you rescue the Fairy from the Potions Classroom while I distract Snape?"

Penny seemed nervous, and rightly so. "I'm not sure, Collin. I'd rather not do anything to get on Professor Snape's bad side… If you've got a convincing reason, I might change my mind."

Collin rolled his eyes. "Penny, you're the only person I am aware of that Snape actually likes! If something goes wrong, you can reason with him and have a good chance of him actually listening to you."

Penny blushed. "You're exaggerating, Collin. Snape likes you just as much as me."

Collin raised a brow. "He still believes I blew up my own potion on the first day. He often pretends to not hear me when I ask questions. Oh, and let's not forget, he favors Merula over me, and so anything she has to say will be taken over me, leading him to the conclusion that I'm a half-wit." Collin scowled with crossed arms. "Shall I also point out that I'm related to a supposed mad-witch and that's who everyone chooses to focus on for some reason?"

"I see your point…" Penny grimaced. "All right, Collin, I'll help you find the fairy and get it out of the potions classroom. I personally don't see the harm in collecting a fairy's wings for potions, but…" She sighed. "This is clearly important to you and Hagrid, so I'm willing to lend a hand."

Collin smiled softly. "Thanks, Penny. You're the best."

"But I really don't know anything about working with fairies." Penny pointed out with concern. "If I do find Hagrid's missing fairy, how will I make it listen?"

"Flattering it should work, but just in case, you can take Ana Fey here along with you." Collin indicated to the fairy fluttering next to him. Ana Fey buzzed in confirmation. "Having one of its kind around might help the lost fairy feel more comfortable."

"That's a good idea, Collin," Hagrid nodded. "But that's a big task fer a fairy."

Collin and Ana Fey looked at each other. They nodded. "We've got this. We'll meet you in the Potions Classroom, Penny." Collin said as he and the fairy went off.

They met up again in the Potions room. Snape was already there. He had started to brew a potion.

Collin looked at Penny with a smile. "Thanks again for volunteering to help me find Hagrid's runaway fairy, Penny. It's really important to him that we relocate the Fairies before Snape has a chance to take their wings."

Penny nodded. "You're welcome, Collin. As an aspiring potioneer, I might personally side with Snape on the Fairy Wings issue though…" She sighed. "But you and Hagrid are my friends, and I'm willing to put my feelings aside for you." She pointed near Snape. "Besides, it looks like I won't have to look too hard, there's the fairy now!" Indeed, the pink haired fairy was staring at Snape as he worked.

"We're in luck!" Collin muttered. "It looks like Snape's too caught up in his work to have noticed it yet."

"It doesn't look like he's noticed us come in either. Why don't we use the opportunity to go over your plan?"

Collin nodded. "Alright. First, you'll tell Snape you left something behind in the classroom and want to look for it… then I'll distract Snape while you and Ana Fey try to get the other Fairy to cooperate."

"But what if I can't get it to cooperate? What if it gets startled and Professor Snape notices?"

Collin smiled again. "Don't worry, Penny. Ana Fey is going to help you. She trusts me and is prepared for this, aren't ya?" He asked the fairy sitting on his shoulder. It nodded and buzzed in Morse code. Collin grinned. "Not to mention, I promised to give her a mirror if she helped." He chuckled as he lightly petted her with a small finger. Ana Fey buzzed happily at that. He looked at the fairy once more. "Now quickly, go hide while Penny and I go and talk to Snape." Ana Fey did as told while the two students made their way over to the professor.

"Excuse me, Professor Snape?" Penny asked nervously.

Snape looked up from his pot after finishing something. "Oh, Haywood and…" He noticed Collin. "Hedgehog… to what do I owe this interruption in my work?"

"I left my favorite quill behind in class and was hoping I could look for it."

"Your favorite… quill?" Snape raised a brow, suspicious of the two first years.

Penny started to lose confidence. "Y-yes… my…er My mum gave it to me. It has very… sentimental value."

Snape sighed. "I see. Very well, go ahead."

"Thank you, Professor!" Penny beamed.

She went to go look, but Snape noted that Collin hadn't budged. "Aren't you going to help her?"

Collin had a bit more confidence now as the year was ending and he had gotten used to having the human teach him such bold sciences in the arts of Potions. "Actually, Professor… I came along because I was hoping I could ask you a question."

"If you must. What is your question?"

Collin nodded. "You said in our first lesson that you could teach us how to bottle fame. Can you show me?"

"Can I?" Snape raised his brow once more. "Yes. Will I?" His face was serious again. "No. If that's all, I have some important work to finish…"

"I have some other questions for you, if you don't mind." He pulled out one of his notebooks, having actually accumulated a list of questions for his potions to be better.

"Ugh."

Collin double checked his notes on the uses of Moonstone in potions, the morals and legal issues of Love Potions, and much to Snape's surprise, a couple of questions about the Defense Against the Dark Arts. After a while though, Snape was getting irritated by all the questions.

"That's quite enough, Hedgehog." Snape snapped after about twenty minutes. "I suggest you take your incessant questions elsewhere. Haywood perhaps, when she finally manages to find her quill."

Collin raised a brow in confusion, hoping his plan hadn't been seen through, though he was happy to have gotten as many answers as he had. "Why? Where are you going?"

Snape sneered. "Somewhere I can continue my work without interruptions." He started out and looked at Penny as he left. The fairies had managed to hide behind her in time. She held out her quill, indicating she had found it.

After Snape left, Collin rushed over to Penny. "Penny! Did you and Ana manage to get Hagrid's missing Fairy?"

Penny smiled. "See for yourself!" The two fairies floated out from behind her. Ana Fey landed on Collin's shoulder once more while the other Fairy floated near Penny. "At first, Hagrid's Fairy didn't want to cooperate. It loved looking at its reflection in the glass jars too much. But, with Ana Fey's help, we were able to convince it to come with us."

Collin sighed in relief. "Thank you, Penny. Now I can take these Fairies to the Magical Creatures Reserve Hagrid has set up where they'll be safe."

Penny grinned. "You're welcome, Collin. To be honest, it was quite exciting. Let me know if you ever need help sneaking creatures behind Professors' backs again."

"Hehe, oh what have I done." Collin chuckled as they left.

Collin led the out to the reserve and found Hagrid waiting. Hagrid spotted them and was happy to see them. "Collin! Yeh managed the find the missin' Fairy!"

"Yes, but I couldn't have done it without Penny and Ana Fey." The fairies started to buzz in acknowledgement. "With their help, we managed to get the Fairy out of the potions classroom without Snape noticing. Snape will have to get his Fairy Wings at the apothecary like everyone else."

"Sounds like yeh've got yerself a good friend an' a fine fairy."

"Thanks, I'd say so."

"Yeh don't know how much o' a relief this is. I've been pacin' 'round me hut all day with worry. Now I can rest easy knowin' all the Fairies from me garden can live without fear o' losin' their wings."

Collin suddenly had his own fears act up. "But will the Fairies really be happy here when they've lived in your garden their whole lives? What if they'd have been happier in the garden without wings than here with them?"

Hagrid started to be worried as well. "I suppose we'll just have the release this last fairy an' see fer ourselves…" After watching it for a little bit, the Fairy flew off into the forest.

Collin smiled. "I'm going to take that as a sign that your fairies are going to be happy here, Hagrid."

"An' it's all thanks teh yeh an' Ana Fey. I'm impressed with how much yeh two connected. Yeh really have a way with creatures."

Collin grimaced. "Thanks Hagrid, but I still have a lot to learn about creatures." Ana Fey jumped on his head and smiled as she sat down.

Hagrid smiled. "Yeh might not think so, but it looks like Ana Fey does. At the end o' the day, I know where teh go the next time I need help with a creature…" He hugged the tiny human. "Teh my friend, Collin." Collin grimaced as he was enveloped in the giant's hug. It wasn't easy to breathe, but he didn't mind. He was just happy that Hagrid was happy.


	22. Chapter 22: Sky High

Collin was on his way back to his dorms after the Fairy incident when Filch stopped him. "Where do you think you're going?"

Collin was startled by the gnarly old man. "N…nowhere. Nowhere special. Nowhere I'm not supposed to be going anyway…" He didn't have as much with humans as he used to, but this one just startled him badly.

"You're Hope Kintobor's Brother, aren't you?" Collin already had a sour face on just from that.

"So what if I am? Why the bloody hell does everyone compare me to someone who I haven't seen since I was a babe?"

"Bah, your sister was one of the nastiest little rule-breakers this school has ever seen. I was sad to see her expelled."

"Why, because you couldn't chain her to the ceiling of the dungeons?" Collin asked bitterly.

"By her wrists!" Filch nodded. Then he grinned darkly. "Now I have a second chance with you."

Collin managed to stand his ground. "I am nothing like my sister, Mr. Filch."

"You are liar, is what you are. Mrs. Norris saw two Gryffindors lurking in a forbidden corridor. I'm guessing one of those Gryffindors was you."

"If there is a forbidden corridor, then I don't know about it. I have no clue what you're talking about."

"You won't be going anywhere without me an' Mrs. Norris knowing…"

Collin then smirked. "Well have you heard of Peeves?"

"Course I've heard of Peeves. Filthy little poltergeist has caused me more trouble than every student put together… Why?"

"Because I heard him talking about sabotaging your office."

"How?"

Collin waived it off as though nothing serious. "Oh, I just heard him say something about setting off all the prank items you've confiscated to go off the next time you open the door." Then his eyes widened. "Oh my, I hope Mrs. Norris doesn't get hurt…"

"Why would he do that?" Filch pondered, not quite taking it yet.

Collin shrugged. "Well, you know Peeves better than me, but I assumed it was because he's fond of mischief and chaos… and I think he hates you too…"

"How do I know you aren't lying?"

Collin shrugged again. "You can think I'm lying, and take the chance that he ruins your office, and hurts Mrs. Norris…" Then he looked the squib in the eye from his short height. "Or you can stand guard in your office so Peeves can't get the best of you."

"I hate that wretched little poltergeist… I can't let him harm Mrs. Norris, and damage my office… I keep my favorite chains in there…" He then scowled at Collin. "If I find out you're lying about this, I'll be using those same chains ta hang you by your ankles…" Collin breathed in relief. He was safe for now. He went to his room to put his bag away so he could go to flying class.

Collin made it to flying class just in time for Madam Hooch to explain what they were doing. "Welcome to flying class. Today, we will take to the skies! A well-maintained broom is a fast broom. To your broom care stations!" Collin ran over to his and got his kit out of its spot before heading over to his assigned broom next to Rowan, and across from Penny and Merula. None of her insults bothered him today, as he had gotten used to it. He soon finished and applied some much needed polish to his broom. When they were all done, they gathered in front of Madam Hooch again. "Listen up, everyone. I am going to demonstrate proper broomstick techniques." This meant she was to hover in front of them while discussing the various things that could kill you while flying. That lasted a few minutes. Collin was feeling bored, but knew he had to keep his attention on the teacher. He had a journal and quill with his bag for Flying class. "Listen up, boys and girls. I am going to explain several important bits of information to you." She continued lecturing. After lecturing for a bit, she spotted the bored look on Collin. "Hedgehog…" Collin snapped up and looked at her. "What quidditch player looks for the golden snitch?"

Collin shook his head. "The Seeker."

"Correct. I just wanted to be sure you were awake." Collin nodded and the class pressed on. "The time has come to climb aboard your broom. Stay focused and uninjured." They went to their brooms and stood to summon them.

Collin summoned his and it went up into his hand as carefully as ever, but a tad slow still. He didn't mind, so long as it didn't hit him in the face like it did some of the others. Collin mounted his broom and awaited instructions. He hovered for a bit to get the feel of his broom. He felt strange. He chalked it up to nerves. He realized that despite how much Snape hated him, he felt more at home in a potion lab than anywhere else. He took a deep breathe. "I'm ready to fly… off I go!" His eyes narrowed as he pushed himself off the ground and flew into the air, managing to circle his class a couple of times before landing. "Phew…" He was relieved that it had gone well. He had liked that rush of air passing him as he flew though… the wind in his hair was nice…

He and Penny walked in together after class and started chatting, "…So I was brewing some potions in the common room, and Professor Sprout walked in!" Penny said with excitement.

Collin raised a brow. "Did you get in trouble or…" Just then some Ravenclaws knocked the poor boy down. The leader was a blonde bird with keen eyes, and no care for anyone around her it seemed.

"Collin are you alright?" She asked as he tried to get up after they had rudely left.

"I think so. Who was that? She didn't even stop…" Collin gave a small glare back towards where the elder girl and her crew had gone.

Penny frowned. "That's Rath. She's the toughest quidditch player at Hogwarts."

Collin frowned. "Rath… that's really her name?"

"Her last name. I think her first name is Erika…. I don't really know her."

Collin was surprised at this. "But you know pretty much everyone, Penny."

"Rath isn't around much. Spends most of her time on the Quidditch pitch. She's expected to lead Ravenclaw to win the Quidditch cup."

Collin frowned. "I know I'm short, but did she just not realize she knocked me down… or did she just not care?"

"Perhaps she thought you fell?" Penny tried hopefully.

Collin deadpanned. "Only after she bumped into me."

"I think that's just how Rath is." Penny sighed. "I don't see her often."

"So then I probably won't run into Rath again… or rather, Rath won't run into me again…"

"Unless you play quidditch next year. Once your part of the quidditch crowd at Hogwarts… well… I hear it's a whole new world!" Collin would have to think on that at some point later on. For now though, he had his hands full with the classes he had… and possibly the cursed vaults.


	23. Chapter 23: Cold Heart, 3 Warm Choices

Collin made his way to the corridor where he and Merula had heard Snape and Filch talking. Ben and Rowan were waiting just outside for him. Ben was pretty scared as usual. "I'll admit this is more terrifying than I ever imagined. And I spend a lot of time imagining terrifying things…" He then turned to Collin. "I'm even more confused by you saying this wouldn't be dangerous, Collin."

Collin shrugged. "I… honestly have faced something far more scarier than Mrs. Norris… and I said it wouldn't be **_that_** dangerous… Now, are you both ready?"

"I'm ready to run at the first sight of danger."

"I spent all night studying maps of this section of the castle, and going over the plan, Collin." Rowan replied with determination. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

Collin sighed and nodded. "I convinced Filch into staying in his office, but we should still hurry. Snape might return at any minute." He then looked at his friends with his own determination. "Ben will keep watch to make sure no one is coming. Rowan will give the sleeping draught to Mrs. Norris while I use **_Alohomora_** to unlock the door."

Rowan now looked puzzled. "I've read a lot of books, but none of them explain how to make a cat drink a potion…"

Collin shook his head. "I mixed it with milk. Just pour it on the ground," Collin said as he handed over the bottle. "She should lick it up then."

Rowan nodded and proceeded with his part of the plan before scampering back to the others. "I imagined myself doing all sorts of things at Hogwarts, but I never thought I'd be giving a cat a sleeping draught…" They turned to see the red eyed cat do as Collin had theorized. "Brilliant Plan, Collin! You have a real gift for this. If wizarding doesn't work out, you should really consider burglary."

Collin shook his head with grief in his blue eyes. "Let's hurry, and get inside that door…" He sounded a little hurt, but his friends didn't notice.

They reached the door, and as Collin had suspected, it was locked. "Quick, get the lock open before Filch comes back!" Rowan kept looking about anxiously.

Collin wasn't worried though. He did the motions and his speech was perfect. **_"Alohomora!_** " The door was unlocked. They were about to go in when Collin was knocked back by a jinx!

" ** _Flipendo!_** "

"OOOF!" Collin found himself sprawled out on the floor, having been knocked into Ben and Rowan. He rubbed his head, having landed hard against the wooden door. "Hello, Merula… can't you think of a better greeting?"

Merula just sneered. "Only an idiot like you would invite a spineless Mudblood to keep watch, Kintobor."

Collin rolled his eyes. "He has a spine, Merula. He's a lion, not a jellyfish."

"Shut up." Then the dark haired human smirked as her purple eyes glowed with devious mockery. "I was wondering how to unlock the door, and get past that nasty cat. All I had to do is follow you, and wait for you to do it for me." She glared, a small grin on her face. "A cursed vault could be inside, and no one is going to reach the cursed vaults before me."

Collin looked up at the tall girl from his position on the floor. "If you want in first so badly, just ask." He muttered as she went past him and his friends through the door.

Rowan groaned as the trio of Gryffindors got up. "Have I mentioned how much I hate Merula?"

Collin nodded. "You boys alright?"

Rowan grimaced but nodded. Ben rubbed the back of his head as well. "Now I know the exact pain you saved me from when Merula was bullying me…"

Rowan looked to Collin, who had somehow become the leader, despite his small height and youth. "What are we going to do, Collin?" He asked the small human.

Collin shook his head as he headed towards the door. "As mad as it sounds, we have to help her. She could be in danger. I'm not up for having anyone die on my watch, Rowan."

"You're right, it sounds mad." Rowan sighed. "I'm right behind you, Collin."

Ben grimaced. "I'm afraid of what might be inside, but I'm even more afraid of being all alone in this corridor." Rowan was surprised at this version of courage from the cowardly lion.

Collin nodded. "Let's see what's inside this room…" They open the door, and Collin's eyes go wide at the ice surrounding them all. "Merula?!" He calls out in shock. His blue eyes couldn't get any bigger, and his jaw almost dropped.

Ben gasps but confusion is written more clearly on his face than anything. "What happened?!"

Rowan was smirking and laughing though as he spotted the purple eyed Slytherin. "This is too good…"

Merula was trapped in ice, and it was spreading. Her wand was currently keeping the room lit with the Lumos spell. "The ice st-stuck m-me t-to the f-floor, and k-keeps sp-spreading over me!" She managed through chattering teeth.

Collin glared at the ice and muttered. "It's the same ice from my vision…"

Merula was just getting more upset and colder by the second. "It's spreading over the door too! Get m-me out of this ice b-before I j-jinx the three of you!"

Collin turned around just in time to see the door literally covered in ice crystals. "Great… the door is frozen shut…"

"COLLIN, HELP!" Collin turned quickly to see Rowan and Ben also being frozen just as Merula was!

"Agh, Hold on!" The young human groaned as he tried to figure out what to do. He kicked at the ice a few times before casting a spell. **_"Flipendo!_** " That was Rowan freed at least. "Are you okay, Rowan?"

"Don't worry about me! We have to help Ben…" They turned to the muggle born wizard who was surprisingly quiet for someone with a large amount of fear in general.

The two boys looked at the ice. "The ice is stronger, so we'll have to cast together."

"Right."

Together the two of them cast the spell. **_"Flipendo!_** "

Ben found himself out of the ice, and finally able to speak. "Thanks, you guys. I was afraid I'd freeze to death…"

"No one c-cares about y-you! S-save m-m-me!" Merula cried out as more ice covered her.

Collin got into position and willed his power to his wand. "Everyone… stand back!" The boys stood back as the tiny Gryffindor looked at the ice with a bit of anger. "Merula… this might hurt…"

"What are you t-talking about?! What are you g-going t-to d-do?!"

"I'm going to get you out of there, young lady." Collin stated as he prepared to cast the spell. " ** _Flipendo!"_** the boy practically growled as his wand lit up.

Merula found herself not only freed, but also knocked down to the ground. "Owwww…." She got up and stamped her foot angrily while Collin calmed himself down again.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Rowan asked cheekily.

Collin shook his head. "Save it, Rowan. We have to get out of this room…" He turned towards the door. Collin tried to use the knockback jinx, but it was too much after freeing Merula. He was too tired. "Ben… you're up. I know you know the knockback jinx. We need you to open the door."

"I… I can't, I'm too afraid!"

"Worthless, Mudblood!" Merula spat.

Collin shook his head. "Don't listen to her, she's just annoyed. Ben, I know you can do this. You just have to try… for your friends?" He tried, hoping Ben would snap out of his depressing fear filled mindset for a moment to save them.

"…" He sighed and readied himself. "I'll try…" He stood in front of the door and cast the spell. " ** _Flipendo!_** " As Flitwick had said, Ben was quite skilled in charms. The ice was gone.

"You did it, Ben!" Collin grinned.

Ben looked at his handiwork in shock. "I did it…"

"Let's get out of here!" Rowan indicated for the door.

Ben was worried about something else now though. "Do you think this ice will keep spreading throughout the castle?"

Collin wasn't looking at his friends now though. He spotted something written near the door. "What the… wait, guys, look at this!"

"What is it?" Ben looked where Collin was pointing.

Rowan was curious, his eagerness to leave was temporarily calmed. "It's some sort of code. Someone left a message in the ice…"

Collin went for his bag but realized he didn't have it for once. "Agh, I forgot my bag! I wish I had something to write it down with…"

"I already have it memorized. Let's get out of here…" Rowan said with determination. Collin blinked. He had memorized the writing as well, but having it on paper would make it easier for him. Nevertheless, he hoped that Rowan wasn't bluffing. The group left the room. "We did it!" He smirked as they left the ice room.

Merula sneered. "I should have known better than to follow you idiots. I'll find the real cursed vaults by myself…"

"I suppose I should be thankful that that wasn't a real cursed vault." Collin muttered as he leaned against the stone walls for support.

"It almost seemed like the ice was escaping from the vault…" Rowan muttered as well. "Deciphering those runes could give us a clue as to where the real one is…" Rowan then looked at his friend with concern. "Looks like your vision was some sort of prophecy. If the ice is spreading, it could eventually encase all of Hogwarts…"

Collin shook his head and started to lead his friends away. "We can try to work it out later. Let's get back to the tower and our common room before we get caught by Filch or Snape…"

The next day, Collin went down to breakfast like normal in the Great Hall only to have Angelica call him over. Collin sighed and made his way over to the tall prefect. "You wanted to see me…?"

"I warned you that word travels fast Hogwarts, Collin…" Collin raised a brow, wondering what she was talking about. "Is it true that you entered a forbidden corridor with Rowan, Ben, and Merula Snyde?"

"… define forbidden…" Collin grimaced.

"Do not lie to me, Collin. It will greatly damage our relationship…"

Collin sighed. "Look, I want to lie to you, but I won't. It was my idea. I thought it was connected to the cursed vaults. I was hoping to understand a bit more on who my sister was, since everyone has deemed it fit to compare me to her." He snapped at the prefect, causing her to step back a little, despite their difference in height and age. "S…sorry…" He was back to his fearful self.

"I… I understand why you did it, but you have to realize that you represent all of Gryffindor. Professor Dumbledore has requested to see you later this evening." Collin's eyes widened in shock.

"Why?"

"I assume to talk about what did or did not happen in that corridor. Good luck, Collin. You're going to need it…"

Collin spent the rest of the day worrying while doing his classes. What did Dumbledore want to talk to him about? Would he be angry about the ice? Would Collin be blamed for it? Would his friends be alright? These were all things he worried about as he tried to figure out what to do.

On his way to see the headmaster, Rowan stopped him. "Collin! I wanted to catch you before you meet with Professor Dumbledore!"

Collin sighed and had a saddened face. "I'm sorry, Rowan, but I'm pretty sure I'm on my way to be punished. I can't ask the Headmaster if he'll hire you to be a professor someday." It was a grim bit of humor, but it was all he could do.

"It's not about that. Although, if the opportunity presents itself, that would be really cool. It's about the code we saw scrawled in the cursed ice last night. I found an obscure book about ciphers. I think I know what it means!"

"That's amazing… and fast…. What does the code say?" Collin had a bit of his normal spark in his eyes again.

"The Ice Knight stands guard past the vanished stairs."

"Huh… I saw stairs and a suit of armor in my vision…"

"It's obviously ominous, and since we found it in the cursed ice, it must be connected to the cursed vaults. I'll spend the summer holidays searching for any references I can find to Ice Knights and Vanished stairs at Hogwarts. Hopefully, I'll have it worked out by the time we return for our second year."

Collin felt bummed again. "If we return for our second year. I'm sorta expecting to be expelled…"

"I hope not, Collin. I want to solve this mystery with my best friend." Collin nodded. He'd like to do that too.

"I gotta go. I'll at least send you an owl later…" He muttered as he headed towards the courtyard, where he had been told to go by an earlier owl.

Dumbledore was waiting for him, gazing at the stars. He didn't seem to notice Collin, until he spoke up as the short human came close to him. "Thank you for meeting with me, Collin."

"Of course, Professor Dumbeldore. I…" He was a bit confused and nervous.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" The old man indicated to the stars above.

"Sir?"

"The quiet night, the crisp air… it truly puts your troubles into perspective, doesn't it?" He smiled while Collin took a quick gaze as well, agreeing with the sentiment. "I oftentimes come here when I need to make an important decision."

Collin sighed and tried to prompt the older man to get to the hard part already. "My prefect said you wanted to see me about everything I've done wrong this year… and about what happened with the cursed ice."

The professor looked down at the young human with a bit of stern curiosity. "You are expecting a lecture, but I feel as though you want to ask me about something…"

Collin thought about it and steeled himself to ask. "I had a vision, Professor. I saw living armor, hidden passages, cursed ice…and … when I heard about the ice, I had to know what it was about. I thought… I think it has to do with my sister… as vague as that sounds…"

Dumbledore nodded. "Interesting. I have a feeling these things will become clearer to you in the coming years at Hogwarts."

Collin's eyes lit up and went wide with surprise. "I'm not going to be expelled?"

"You have made many, many mistakes this year, Collin. But you have also demonstrated bravery, compassion, and resourcefulness, which is probably why the hat had such a problem sorting you, even though it ordinarily would have sorted you by your lineage." Collin flinched at that. "You show great promise." Dumbledore's expression softened, as did Collin's stance. "All things considered, I believe you have earned one hundred points for Gryffindor."

Collin's jaw would have dropped if not connected to him by skin. "One hundred House points?! Wow. Thank you, Professor Dumbledore."

The professor became serious again. "In the years to come, you must be mindful of how your decisions impact others. Remember, Collin, it is not our abilities that show what we truly are. It is our choices. Your own have already started to change some things around you."

"Can we talk more about the cursed ice… and my sister… and the Cursed Vaults?"

The headmaster smiled again. "We can, and we will. Next year. You have enough to think on already. Enjoy your summer Holidays, Collin."

The headmaster left Collin outside to think about what had just happened. Looking at the stars, Collin felt himself a lot… lighter… than he had in a long time…


	24. Chapter 24: End of the Year

Collin and Rowan were waiting with the rest of the school in the Great Hall as Dumbledore started the speech. "Another year at Hogwarts has come to an end! I hope you all have learned much this year, because I certainly feel like I have learned from you. But enough of my blathering. There is a feast to enjoy, and a House Cup to award… In fourth place, Slytherin, with 681 points…In third, Ravenclaw, with 686… In Second, Hufflepuff has 692… and with 1308 points, Gryffindor!" The entire Gryffindor table burst with cheers. "Congratulations, Gryffindor! This year's winners of the house cup!" The decorations in the hall changed to Gryffindor.

"We did it, Collin!" Rowan cheered. "We won the House Cup!"

"Now, please enjoy your feast, and enjoy your summer holidays!"

The day after the feast, Collin said goodbye to his friends after their long ride back to London. Charles was the first thing that Collin spotted as he got off the train. "DAD!" He called in excitement as he ran to the blue hedgehog.

"Collin!" The two hugged, happy to be with each other again. Rowan and some of the others chuckled at the interesting display of Mobian and Human family. Collin was almost like another person around Charles, more… innocent, and childish… "Glad to have you back. Did you have fun?"

"It was brilliant, Dad! I got to learn how to fly on a broom, and we won the house cup!"

"Oh-ho! Did you now! That's great! Come on, let's get Griff, and you can tell me all about your adventures on the ride back to Knothole. Goodness knows, some of the other kids will be jealous."

"Meh, Max and Shade can see it next year. I sometimes saw Locke, but he was always busy flirting with that one girl. I think he graduates next year anyway."

"Well from your letters, it sounds like you weren't too bored, hehe. I see you made some friends too." Collin gave one last goodbye to Penny, Ben, and Rowan.

"Yeah, it was brilliant!"

"I'm glad." Charles smiled as he helped his adopted son get his things into their car, being one of the few wizards who could drive a muggle vehicle. "What was your favorite class?"

"Surprisingly, it was Professor Snape's potion class! I'm determined to get him to say that I'm at least adequate at potions before I graduate!" His determined face was so cute looking that Charles could only chuckle.

"You've got six years to do that. Don't worry. Just make sure that potions isn't the only thing you do."

"Relax, Dad. I've got plenty other things to do at Hogwarts as well…" Collin smiled. He was ready for Summer. He really needed a break from all those vaults and rumors about his sister… next year promised to be even more exciting though.


End file.
